Device, method, and graphical user interface for manipulation of user interface objects with activation regions

ABSTRACT

A computing device with a display simultaneously displays a plurality of user interface objects, a currently selected user interface object, and a plurality of resizing handles for the currently selected user interface object. Each respective resizing handle has a corresponding handle activation region with a default position relative to the respective resizing handle, a default size, and a default shape. The device detects a first input on a first handle activation region for a first resizing handle in the plurality of resizing handles. In response to detecting the first input, the device: resizes the currently selected user interface object, and for at least one resizing handle in the plurality of resizing handles, modifies a corresponding handle activation region by changing the position of the handle activation region relative to the resizing handle from the default position to a modified position.

RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is related to the following applications: (1) U.S.patent application Ser. No. 12/567,699, “Device, Method, and GraphicalUser Interface for Manipulation of User Interface Objects withActivation Regions,” filed Sep. 25, 2009; and (2) U.S. patentapplication Ser. No. 12/567,700, “Device, Method, and Graphical UserInterface for Manipulation of User Interface Objects with ActivationRegions,” filed Sep. 25, 2009, which are incorporated herein byreference in their entirety.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The disclosed embodiments relate generally to electronic computingdevices with touch-sensitive surfaces, and more particularly, toelectronic computing devices with touch-sensitive surfaces that areoperable to manipulate user interface objects displayed on a display ofthe electronic computing device.

BACKGROUND

The use of touch-sensitive surfaces as input devices for computers andother electronic computing devices has increased significantly in recentyears. Exemplary touch-sensitive surfaces include touch pads and touchscreen displays. Such surfaces are widely used to manipulate userinterface objects on a display.

Exemplary manipulations include adjusting the position, rotation, and/orsize of one or more user interface objects. Exemplary user interfaceobjects include digital images, video, text, icons, and other graphics.A user may need to perform such manipulations on user interface objectsin, an electronic document authoring application such as a drawingapplication, a presentation application (e.g., Keynote from Apple Inc.of Cupertino, Calif.), a word processing application (e.g., Pages fromApple Inc. of Cupertino, Calif.), a website creation application (e.g.,iWeb from Apple Inc. of Cupertino, Calif.), or a spreadsheet application(e.g., Numbers from Apple Inc. of Cupertino, Calif.).

But existing methods for performing these manipulations are cumbersomeand inefficient. For example, handle activation regions for resizinghandles may be shaped and positioned such that it is difficult toaccurately select a desired resizing handle, and thus a user mustperform additional steps such as manually increasing the magnificationlevel of the display to accurately select the resizing handle.Similarly, even if the desired resizing handle is selected, a user maywish to precisely reposition the resizing handle, and must performadditional steps such as manually increasing the magnification level ofthe display to accurately reposition the resizing handle. Existingmanipulations are tedious and create a significant cognitive burden on auser. In addition, existing methods take longer than necessary, therebywasting energy. This latter consideration is particularly important inbattery-operated devices.

Accordingly, there is a need for computing devices with faster, moreefficient methods and interfaces for more accurately manipulating userinterface objects, while minimizing the number of user inputs requiredto perform the user interface object manipulation tasks. Such methodsand interfaces may complement or replace conventional methods formanipulating user interface objects. Such methods and interfaces reducethe cognitive burden on a user and produce a more efficienthuman-machine interface. For battery-operated computing devices, suchmethods and interfaces conserve power and increase the time betweenbattery charges.

SUMMARY

The above deficiencies and other problems associated with userinterfaces for computing devices with touch-sensitive surfaces arereduced or eliminated by the disclosed devices. In some embodiments, thedevice is a desktop computer. In some embodiments, the device isportable (e.g., a notebook computer, tablet computer, or handhelddevice). In some embodiments, the device has a touchpad. In someembodiments, the device has a touch-sensitive display (also known as a“touch screen” or “touch screen display”). In some embodiments, thedevice has a graphical user interface (GUI), one or more processors,memory and one or more modules, programs or sets of instructions storedin the memory for performing multiple functions. In some embodiments,the user interacts with the GUI primarily through finger contacts andgestures on the touch-sensitive surface. In some embodiments, thefunctions may include image editing, drawing, presenting, wordprocessing, website creating, disk authoring, spreadsheet making, gameplaying, telephoning, video conferencing, e-mailing, instant messaging,workout support, digital photographing, digital videoing, web browsing,digital music playing, and/or digital video playing. Executableinstructions for performing these functions may be included in acomputer readable storage medium or other computer program productconfigured for execution by one or more processors.

In accordance with some embodiments, a method is performed at acomputing device with a display. The method includes simultaneouslydisplaying on the display: a plurality of user interface objects,wherein at least some of the user interface objects are configured to beresizable; a currently selected user interface object; and a pluralityof resizing handles for the currently selected user interface object,wherein each respective resizing handle has a corresponding handleactivation region with a default position relative to the respectiveresizing handle, a default size, and a default shape. The method furtherincludes detecting a first input on a first handle activation region fora first resizing handle in the plurality of resizing handles; and inresponse to detecting the first input: resizing the currently selecteduser interface object. The method additionally includes, for at leastone resizing handle in the plurality of resizing handles, modifying acorresponding handle activation region by changing the position of thehandle activation region relative to the resizing handle from thedefault position to a modified position.

In accordance with some embodiments, a graphical user interface on acomputing device with a display, a memory, and one or more processors toexecute one or more programs stored in the memory includes a pluralityof user interface objects, wherein at least some of the user interfaceobjects are configured to be resizable; a currently selected userinterface object; and a plurality of resizing handles for the currentlyselected user interface object, wherein each respective resizing handlehas a corresponding handle activation region with a default positionrelative to the respective resizing handle, a default size, and adefault shape. A first input is detected on a first handle activationregion for a first resizing handle in the plurality of resizing handles.In response to detecting the first input: the currently selected userinterface object is resized; and for at least one resizing handle in theplurality of resizing handles, a corresponding handle activation regionis modified by changing the position of the handle activation regionrelative to the resizing handle from the default position to a modifiedposition.

In accordance with some embodiments, a computing device includes adisplay, one or more processors, memory, and one or more programs. Theone or more programs are stored in the memory and configured to beexecuted by the one or more processors. The one or more programs includeinstructions for: simultaneously displaying on the display: a pluralityof user interface objects, wherein at least some of the user interfaceobjects are configured to be resizable; a currently selected userinterface object; and a plurality of resizing handles for the currentlyselected user interface object, wherein each respective resizing handlehas a corresponding handle activation region with a default positionrelative to the respective resizing handle, a default size, and adefault shape. The one or more programs also include instructions fordetecting a first input on a first handle activation region for a firstresizing handle in the plurality of resizing handles; and in response todetecting the first input: resizing the currently selected userinterface object; and for at least one resizing handle in the pluralityof resizing handles, modifying a corresponding handle activation regionby changing the position of the handle activation region relative to theresizing handle from the default position to a modified position.

In accordance with some embodiments, a computer readable storage mediumhas stored therein instructions which when executed by a computingdevice with a display, cause the device to: simultaneously display onthe display: a plurality of user interface objects, wherein at leastsome of the user interface objects are configured to be resizable; acurrently selected user interface object; and a plurality of resizinghandles for the currently selected user interface object, wherein eachrespective resizing handle has a corresponding handle activation regionwith a default position relative to the respective resizing handle, adefault size, and a default shape. The instructions, when executed,further cause the device to detect a first input on a first handleactivation region for a first resizing handle in the plurality ofresizing handles; and in response to detecting the first input: resizethe currently selected user interface object; and for at least oneresizing handle in the plurality of resizing handles, modify acorresponding handle activation region by changing the position of thehandle activation region relative to the resizing handle from thedefault position to a modified position.

In accordance with some embodiments, a computing device includes: adisplay; means for simultaneously displaying on the display: a pluralityof user interface objects, wherein at least some of the user interfaceobjects are configured to be resizable; a currently selected userinterface object; and a plurality of resizing handles for the currentlyselected user interface object, wherein each respective resizing handlehas a corresponding handle activation region with a default positionrelative to the respective resizing handle, a default size, and adefault shape. The device further includes means for detecting a firstinput on a first handle activation region for a first resizing handle inthe plurality of resizing handles; and means, responsive to detectingthe first input, for: resizing the currently selected user interfaceobject; and for at least one resizing handle in the plurality ofresizing handles, modifying a corresponding handle activation region bychanging the position of the handle activation region relative to theresizing handle from the default position to a modified position.

In accordance with some embodiments, an information processing apparatusfor use in a computing device with a display includes: means forsimultaneously displaying on the display: a plurality of user interfaceobjects, wherein at least some of the user interface objects areconfigured to be resizable; a currently selected user interface object;and a plurality of resizing handles for the currently selected userinterface object, wherein each respective resizing handle has acorresponding handle activation region with a default position relativeto the respective resizing handle, a default size, and a default shape.The apparatus further includes means for detecting a first input on afirst handle activation region for a first resizing handle in theplurality of resizing handles; and means, responsive to detecting thefirst input, for: resizing the currently selected user interface object;and for at least one resizing handle in the plurality of resizinghandles, modifying a corresponding handle activation region by changingthe position of the handle activation region relative to the resizinghandle from the default position to a modified position.

In accordance with some embodiments, a method is performed at acomputing device with a touch screen display. The method includes:simultaneously displaying a plurality of user-repositionable userinterface objects. Each user interface object includes one or moreactivation regions. The method further includes receiving a first inputfrom the user at a position on the touch screen that corresponds to atleast one of the activation regions; and based at least in part on thefirst input, determining a first plurality of candidate actions. Eachcandidate action is associated with one of the user interface objectsand the candidate actions are ordered in accordance with a firstordering. The method further includes performing a first candidateaction of the first plurality of candidate actions as determined inaccordance with the first ordering; after performing the first candidateaction, receiving a second input that corresponds to a request to undothe first candidate action; in response to the second input, undoing thefirst candidate action. The method additionally includes receiving athird input that is a repetition of the first input and determining,based at least in part on the third input, a second plurality ofcandidate actions associated with one or more of the plurality of userinterface objects. The second plurality of candidate actions are orderedin accordance with a second ordering that is different from the firstordering. A second candidate action in the second plurality of candidateactions is distinct from the first candidate action and has a higherposition than the first candidate action in the second ordering. Themethod further includes performing the second candidate action.

In accordance with some embodiments, a graphical user interface on acomputing device with a touch screen display, a memory, and one or moreprocessors to execute one or more programs stored in the memory includesa plurality of user-repositionable user interface objects, wherein eachuser interface object includes one or more activation regions. A firstinput is received from the user at a position on the touch screen thatcorresponds to at least one of the activation regions. Based at least inpart on the first input, a first plurality of candidate actions isdetermined. Each candidate action is associated with one of the userinterface objects and the candidate actions are ordered in accordancewith a first ordering. A first candidate action of the first pluralityof candidate actions, as determined in accordance with the firstordering, is performed. After performing the first candidate action, asecond input is received that corresponds to a request to undo the firstcandidate action. In response to the second input, the first candidateaction is undone. A third input that is a repetition of the first inputis received. Based at least in part on the third input, a secondplurality of candidate actions associated with one or more of theplurality of user interface objects is determined. The second pluralityof candidate actions are ordered in accordance with a second orderingthat is different from the first ordering. A second candidate action inthe second plurality of candidate actions is distinct from the firstcandidate action and has a higher position than the first candidateaction in the second ordering. The second candidate action is performed.

In accordance with some embodiments, a computing device includes a touchscreen display, one or more processors, memory, and one or moreprograms. The one or more programs are stored in the memory andconfigured to be executed by the one or more processors. The one or moreprograms include instructions for simultaneously displaying a pluralityof user-repositionable user interface objects. Each user interfaceobject includes one or more activation regions. The one or more programsfurther include instructions for receiving a first input from the userat a position on the touch screen that corresponds to at least one ofthe activation regions; and based at least in part on the first input,determining a first plurality of candidate actions. Each candidateaction is associated with one of the user interface objects and thecandidate actions are ordered in accordance with a first ordering. Theone or more programs additionally include instructions for performing afirst candidate action of the first plurality of candidate actions asdetermined in accordance with the first ordering and after performingthe first candidate action, receiving a second input that corresponds toa request to undo the first candidate action. The one or more programsfurther include instructions for, in response to the second input,undoing the first candidate action. The one or more programsadditionally include instructions for receiving a third input that is arepetition of the first input; and determining, based at least in parton the third input, a second plurality of candidate actions associatedwith one or more of the plurality of user interface objects. The secondplurality of candidate actions are ordered in accordance with a secondordering that is different from the first ordering. A second candidateaction in the second plurality of candidate actions is distinct from thefirst candidate action and has a higher position than the firstcandidate action in the second. The one or more programs additionallyinclude instructions for performing the second candidate action.

In accordance with some embodiments, a computer readable storage mediumhas stored therein instructions which when executed by a computingdevice with a touch screen display cause the device to simultaneouslydisplay a plurality of user-repositionable user interface objects. Eachuser interface object includes one or more activation regions. Theinstructions also cause the device to receive a first input from theuser at a position on the touch screen that corresponds to at least oneof the activation regions; and based at least in part on the firstinput, determine a first plurality of candidate actions. Each candidateaction is associated with one of the user interface objects and thecandidate actions are ordered in accordance with a first ordering. Theinstructions further cause the device to perform a first candidateaction of the first plurality of candidate actions as determined inaccordance with the first ordering; and after performing the firstcandidate action, receive a second input that corresponds to a requestto undo the first candidate action. The instructions also cause thedevice to, in response to the second input, undo the first candidateaction. The instructions further cause the device to receive a thirdinput that is a repetition of the first input and determine, based atleast in part on the third input, a second plurality of candidateactions associated with one or more of the plurality of user interfaceobjects. The second plurality of candidate actions are ordered inaccordance with a second ordering that is different from the firstordering. A second candidate action in the second plurality of candidateactions is distinct from the first candidate action and has a higherposition than the first candidate action in the second ordering. Theinstructions further cause the device to perform the second candidateaction.

In accordance with some embodiments, a computing device includes: atouch screen display; means for simultaneously displaying a plurality ofuser-repositionable user interface objects. Each user interface objectincludes one or more activation regions. The device further includesmeans for receiving a first input from the user at a position on thetouch screen that corresponds to at least one of the activation regions;and means for, based at least in part on the first input, determining afirst plurality of candidate actions. Each candidate action isassociated with one of the user interface objects and the candidateactions are ordered in accordance with a first ordering. The deviceadditionally includes means for performing a first candidate action ofthe first plurality of candidate actions as determined in accordancewith the first ordering; and means for, after performing the firstcandidate action, receiving a second input that corresponds to a requestto undo the first candidate action. The device further includes means,responsive to the second input, for undoing the first candidate action.The device additionally includes means for receiving a third input thatis a repetition of the first input and means for determining, based atleast in part on the third input, a second plurality of candidateactions associated with one or more of the plurality of user interfaceobjects. The second plurality of candidate actions are ordered inaccordance with a second ordering that is different from the firstordering. A second candidate action in the second plurality of candidateactions is distinct from the first candidate action and has a higherposition than the first candidate action in the second ordering. Thedevice additionally includes means for performing the second candidateaction.

In accordance with some embodiments, an information processing apparatusfor use in a computing device with a touch screen display includes:means for simultaneously displaying a plurality of user-repositionableuser interface objects. Each user interface object includes one or moreactivation regions. The apparatus further includes means for receiving afirst input from the user at a position on the touch screen thatcorresponds to at least one of the activation regions; and means for,based at least in part on the first input, determining a first pluralityof candidate actions. Each candidate action is associated with one ofthe user interface objects and the candidate actions are ordered inaccordance with a first ordering. The apparatus additionally includesmeans for performing a first candidate action of the first plurality ofcandidate actions as determined in accordance with the first ordering;and means for, after performing the first candidate action, receiving asecond input that corresponds to a request to undo the first candidateaction. The apparatus further includes means, responsive to the secondinput, for undoing the first candidate action. The apparatusadditionally includes means for receiving a third input that is arepetition of the first input and means for determining, based at leastin part on the third input, a second plurality of candidate actionsassociated with one or more of the plurality of user interface objects.The second plurality of candidate actions are ordered in accordance witha second ordering that is different from the first ordering. A secondcandidate action in the second plurality of candidate actions isdistinct from the first candidate action and has a higher position thanthe first candidate action in the second ordering. The apparatusadditionally includes means for performing the second candidate action.

In accordance with some embodiments, a method is performed at acomputing device with a touch screen display. The method includessimultaneously displaying a plurality of user-repositionable userinterface objects. Each user interface object includes one or moreactivation regions. The method further includes receiving a first inputfrom the user at a position on the touch screen that corresponds to atleast one of the activation regions; and based at least in part on thefirst input, determining a first plurality of candidate actions. Eachcandidate action is associated with one of the user interface objectsand the candidate actions are ordered in accordance with a firstordering. The method additionally includes performing a first candidateaction of the first plurality of candidate actions as determined inaccordance with the first ordering; and after performing the firstcandidate action, receiving a second input that is a repetition of thefirst input. The method further includes in response to the secondinput: undoing the first candidate action; determining, based at leastin part on the second input, a second plurality of candidate actionsassociated with one or more of the plurality of user interface objects,wherein the second plurality of candidate actions are ordered inaccordance with a second ordering that is different from the firstordering; wherein a second candidate action in the second plurality ofcandidate actions is distinct from the first candidate action and has ahigher position than the first candidate action in the second ordering;and performing the second candidate action.

In accordance with some embodiments, a graphical user interface on acomputing device with a touch screen display, a memory, and one or moreprocessors to execute one or more programs stored in the memory includesa plurality of user-repositionable user interface objects. Each userinterface object includes one or more activation regions. A first inputis received from the user at a position on the touch screen thatcorresponds to at least one of the activation regions. Based at least inpart on the first input, a first plurality of candidate actions isdetermined. Each candidate action is associated with one of the userinterface objects and the candidate actions are ordered in accordancewith a first ordering. A first candidate action of the first pluralityof candidate actions, as determined in accordance with the firstordering, is performed. After performing the first candidate action, asecond input that is a repetition of the first input is received. Inresponse to the second input: the first candidate action is undone;based at least in part on the second input, a second plurality ofcandidate actions associated with one or more of the plurality of userinterface objects is determined, wherein the second plurality ofcandidate actions are ordered in accordance with a second ordering thatis different from the first ordering; wherein a second candidate actionin the second plurality of candidate actions is distinct from the firstcandidate action and has a higher position than the first candidateaction in the second ordering; and the second candidate action isperformed.

In accordance with some embodiments, a computing device includes a touchscreen display, one or more processors, memory, and one or moreprograms. The one or more programs are stored in the memory andconfigured to be executed by the one or more processors. The one or moreprograms include instructions for simultaneously displaying a pluralityof user-repositionable user interface objects. Each user interfaceobject includes one or more activation regions. The one or more programsfurther include instructions for receiving a first input from the userat a position on the touch screen that corresponds to at least one ofthe activation regions; and based at least in part on the first input,determining a first plurality of candidate actions. Each candidateaction is associated with one of the user interface objects and thecandidate actions are ordered in accordance with a first ordering. Theone or more programs additionally include instructions for performing afirst candidate action of the first plurality of candidate actions asdetermined in accordance with the first ordering; and after performingthe first candidate action, receiving a second input that is arepetition of the first input. The one or more programs further includeinstructions for, in response to the second input: undoing the firstcandidate action; determining, based at least in part on the secondinput, a second plurality of candidate actions associated with one ormore of the plurality of user interface objects, wherein the secondplurality of candidate actions are ordered in accordance with a secondordering that is different from the first ordering; wherein a secondcandidate action in the second plurality of candidate actions isdistinct from the first candidate action and has a higher position thanthe first candidate action in the second ordering; and performing thesecond candidate action.

In accordance with some embodiments, a computer readable storage mediumhas stored therein instructions which when executed by a computingdevice with a touch screen display, cause the device to simultaneouslydisplay a plurality of user-repositionable user interface objects. Eachuser interface object includes one or more activation regions. Theinstructions further cause the device to receive a first input from theuser at a position on the touch screen that corresponds to at least oneof the activation regions; and based at least in part on the firstinput, determine a first plurality of candidate actions. Each candidateaction is associated with one of the user interface objects and thecandidate actions are ordered in accordance with a first ordering. Theinstructions also cause the device to perform a first candidate actionof the first plurality of candidate actions as determined in accordancewith the first ordering; and after performing the first candidateaction, receive a second input that is a repetition of the first input.The instructions further cause the device to in response to the secondinput: undo the first candidate action; determine, based at least inpart on the second input, a second plurality of candidate actionsassociated with one or more of the plurality of user interface objects,wherein the second plurality of candidate actions are ordered inaccordance with a second ordering that is different from the firstordering; wherein a second candidate action in the second plurality ofcandidate actions is distinct from the first candidate action and has ahigher position than the first candidate action in the second ordering;and perform the second candidate action.

In accordance with some embodiments, a computing device includes: atouch screen display; means for simultaneously displaying a plurality ofuser-repositionable user interface objects. Each user interface objectincludes one or more activation regions; means for receiving a firstinput from the user at a position on the touch screen that correspondsto at least one of the activation regions. The device also includesmeans for, based at least in part on the first input, determining afirst plurality of candidate actions. Each candidate action isassociated with one of the user interface objects and the candidateactions are ordered in accordance with a first ordering. The devicefurther includes means for performing a first candidate action of thefirst plurality of candidate actions as determined in accordance withthe first ordering; and means for, after performing the first candidateaction, receiving a second input that is a repetition of the firstinput. The device further includes means, responsive to the secondinput, for: undoing the first candidate action; determining, based atleast in part on the second input, a second plurality of candidateactions associated with one or more of the plurality of user interfaceobjects, wherein the second plurality of candidate actions are orderedin accordance with a second ordering that is different from the firstordering; wherein a second candidate action in the second plurality ofcandidate actions is distinct from the first candidate action and has ahigher position than the first candidate action in the second ordering;and performing the second candidate action.

In accordance with some embodiments, an information processing apparatusfor use in a computing device with a touch screen display includes:means for simultaneously displaying a plurality of user-repositionableuser interface objects. Each user interface object includes one or moreactivation regions; means for receiving a first input from the user at aposition on the touch screen that corresponds to at least one of theactivation regions. The apparatus also includes means for, based atleast in part on the first input, determining a first plurality ofcandidate actions. Each candidate action is associated with one of theuser interface objects and the candidate actions are ordered inaccordance with a first ordering. The apparatus further includes meansfor performing a first candidate action of the first plurality ofcandidate actions as determined in accordance with the first ordering;and means for, after performing the first candidate action, receiving asecond input that is a repetition of the first input. The apparatusfurther includes means, responsive to the second input, for: undoing thefirst candidate action; determining, based at least in part on thesecond input, a second plurality of candidate actions associated withone or more of the plurality of user interface objects, wherein thesecond plurality of candidate actions are ordered in accordance with asecond ordering that is different from the first ordering; wherein asecond candidate action in the second plurality of candidate actions isdistinct from the first candidate action and has a higher position thanthe first candidate action in the second ordering; and performing thesecond candidate action.

In accordance with some embodiments, a method is performed at acomputing device with a touch screen display. The method includessimultaneously displaying on the touch screen display: a plurality ofuser interface objects displayed at a first magnification level in adisplay area; a currently selected user interface object; and aplurality of handles for the currently selected user interface object.Each handle has a corresponding handle activation region. The methodfurther includes detecting a first contact at a first location on thetouch screen display that corresponds to a first handle activationregion for a first handle in the plurality of handles; continuing todetect the first contact at the first location for a predefined amountof time; and in response to continuing to detect the first contact atthe first location for the predefined amount of time, zooming thedisplay area to a second magnification level. The second magnificationlevel is greater than the first magnification level. The methodadditionally includes, while the display area is at the secondmagnification level: detecting a movement of the first contact acrossthe touch screen display; moving the first handle to a second locationin the display area in accordance with the detected movement of thefirst contact; and detecting liftoff of the first contact. The methodfurther includes, in response to detecting liftoff of the first contact,zooming the display area to the first magnification level.

In accordance with some embodiments, a graphical user interface on acomputing device with a touch screen display, a memory, and one or moreprocessors to execute one or more programs stored in the memory includesa plurality of user interface objects displayed at a first magnificationlevel in a display area; a currently selected user interface object; anda plurality of handles for the currently selected user interface object.Each handle has a corresponding handle activation region. A firstcontact is detected at a first location on the touch screen display thatcorresponds to a first handle activation region for a first handle inthe plurality of handles. The first contact continues to be detected atthe first location for a predefined amount of time. In response tocontinuing to detect the first contact at the first location for thepredefined amount of time, the display area is zoomed to a secondmagnification level. The second magnification level is greater than thefirst magnification level. While the display area is at the secondmagnification level: a movement of the first contact is detected acrossthe touch screen display; the first handle is moved to a second locationin the display area in accordance with the detected movement of thefirst contact; and liftoff of the first contact is detected. In responseto detecting liftoff of the first contact, the display area is zoomed tothe first magnification level.

In accordance with some embodiments, a computing device includes a touchscreen display, one or more processors, memory, and one or moreprograms. The one or more programs are stored in the memory andconfigured to be executed by the one or more processors. The one or moreprograms include instructions for simultaneously displaying on the touchscreen display: a plurality of user interface objects displayed at afirst magnification level in a display area; a currently selected userinterface object; and a plurality of handles for the currently selecteduser interface object. Each handle has a corresponding handle activationregion. The one or more programs further include instructions for:detecting a first contact at a first location on the touch screendisplay that corresponds to a first handle activation region for a firsthandle in the plurality of handles; continuing to detect the firstcontact at the first location for a predefined amount of time; and inresponse to continuing to detect the first contact at the first locationfor the predefined amount of time, zooming the display area to a secondmagnification level. The second magnification level is greater than thefirst magnification level. The one or more programs additionally includeinstructions for, while the display area is at the second magnificationlevel: detecting a movement of the first contact across the touch screendisplay; moving the first handle to a second location in the displayarea in accordance with the detected movement of the first contact; anddetecting liftoff of the first contact. The one or more programs furtherinclude instructions for, in response to detecting liftoff of the firstcontact, zooming the display area to the first magnification level.

In accordance with some embodiments, a computer readable storage mediumhas stored therein instructions which when executed by a computingdevice with a touch screen display, cause the device to simultaneouslydisplay on the touch screen display: a plurality of user interfaceobjects displayed at a first magnification level in a display area; acurrently selected user interface object; and a plurality of handles forthe currently selected user interface object. Each handle has acorresponding handle activation region. The instructions further causethe device to: detect a first contact at a first location on the touchscreen display that corresponds to a first handle activation region fora first handle in the plurality of handles; continue to detect the firstcontact at the first location for a predefined amount of time; and inresponse to continuing to detect the first contact at the first locationfor the predefined amount of time, zoom the display area to a secondmagnification level. The second magnification level is greater than thefirst magnification level. The instructions additionally cause thedevice to, while the display area is at the second magnification level:detect a movement of the first contact across the touch screen display;move the first handle to a second location in the display area inaccordance with the detected movement of the first contact; and detectliftoff of the first contact. The instructions further cause the deviceto, in response to detecting liftoff of the first contact, zoom thedisplay area to the first magnification level.

In accordance with some embodiments, a computing device includes: atouch screen display; means for simultaneously displaying on the touchscreen display: a plurality of user interface objects displayed at afirst magnification level in a display area; a currently selected userinterface object; and a plurality of handles for the currently selecteduser interface object. Each handle has a corresponding handle activationregion. The device further includes: means for detecting a first contactat a first location on the touch screen display that corresponds to afirst handle activation region for a first handle in the plurality ofhandles; means for continuing to detect the first contact at the firstlocation for a predefined amount of time; and means, responsive tocontinuing to detect the first contact at the first location for thepredefined amount of time for, zooming the display area to a secondmagnification level. The second magnification level is greater than thefirst magnification level. The device additionally includes, while thedisplay area is at the second magnification level: means for detecting amovement of the first contact across the touch screen display; means formoving the first handle to a second location in the display area inaccordance with the detected movement of the first contact; and meansfor detecting liftoff of the first contact. The device further includesmeans, responsive to detecting liftoff of the first contact for, zoomingthe display area to the first magnification level.

In accordance with some embodiments, an information processing apparatusfor use in a computing device with a touch screen display includes:means for simultaneously displaying on the touch screen display: aplurality of user interface objects displayed at a first magnificationlevel in a display area; a currently selected user interface object; anda plurality of handles for the currently selected user interface object.Each handle has a corresponding handle activation region. The apparatusfurther includes: means for detecting a first contact at a firstlocation on the touch screen display that corresponds to a first handleactivation region for a first handle in the plurality of handles; meansfor continuing to detect the first contact at the first location for apredefined amount of time; and means, responsive to continuing to detectthe first contact at the first location for the predefined amount oftime for, zooming the display area to a second magnification level. Thesecond magnification level is greater than the first magnificationlevel. The apparatus additionally includes, while the display area is atthe second magnification level: means for detecting a movement of thefirst contact across the touch screen display; means for moving thefirst handle to a second location in the display area in accordance withthe detected movement of the first contact; and means for detectingliftoff of the first contact. The apparatus further includes means,responsive to detecting liftoff of the first contact for, zooming thedisplay area to the first magnification level.

Thus, computing devices with displays and touch-sensitive surfacesand/or touch screen displays are provided with faster, more efficientmethods and interfaces for manipulating user interface objects, therebyincreasing the effectiveness, efficiency, and user satisfaction withsuch devices. Such methods and interfaces may complement or replaceconventional methods for manipulating user interface objects.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

For a better understanding of the aforementioned embodiments of theinvention as well as additional embodiments thereof, reference should bemade to the Description of Embodiments below, in conjunction with thefollowing drawings in which like reference numerals refer tocorresponding parts throughout the figures.

FIGS. 1A and 1B are block diagrams illustrating portable multifunctiondevices with touch-sensitive displays in accordance with someembodiments.

FIG. 2 illustrates a portable multifunction device having a touch screenin accordance with some embodiments.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram of an exemplary multifunction device with adisplay and a touch-sensitive surface in accordance with someembodiments.

FIGS. 4A and 4B illustrate exemplary user interfaces for a menu ofapplications on a portable multifunction device in accordance with someembodiments.

FIG. 4C illustrates an exemplary user interface for a computing devicewith a touch-sensitive surface that is separate from the display inaccordance with some embodiments.

FIGS. 5A-5J illustrate exemplary user interfaces for modifying handleactivation regions for resizing handles of a user interface object inaccordance with some embodiments.

FIGS. 6A-6P illustrate exemplary user interfaces for selecting analternative candidate action to perform based on previously canceledcandidate actions in accordance with some embodiments.

FIGS. 7A-7G illustrate exemplary user interfaces for automaticallyzooming a display area to finely manipulate a user interface object inaccordance with some embodiments.

FIGS. 8A-8D are flow diagrams illustrating a method of modifying handleactivation regions for resizing handles of a user interface object inaccordance with some embodiments.

FIGS. 9A-9D are flow diagrams illustrating a method of selecting analternative candidate action to perform in accordance with someembodiments.

FIG. 10 is a flow diagram illustrating a method of selecting analternative candidate action to perform in accordance with someembodiments.

FIGS. 11A-11C are flow diagrams illustrating a method of automaticallyzooming a display area to finely manipulate a user interface object inaccordance with some embodiments.

DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS

Reference will now be made in detail to embodiments, examples of whichare illustrated in the accompanying drawings. In the following detaileddescription, numerous specific details are set forth in order to providea thorough understanding of the present invention. However, it will beapparent to one of ordinary skill in the art that the present inventionmay be practiced without these specific details. In other instances,well-known methods, procedures, components, circuits, and networks havenot been described in detail so as not to unnecessarily obscure aspectsof the embodiments.

It will also be understood that, although the terms first, second, etc.may be used herein to describe various elements, these elements shouldnot be limited by these terms. These terms are only used to distinguishone element from another. For example, a first contact could be termed asecond contact, and, similarly, a second contact could be termed a firstcontact, without departing from the scope of the present invention. Thefirst contact and the second contact are both contacts, but they are notthe same contact.

The terminology used in the description of the invention herein is forthe purpose of describing particular embodiments only and is notintended to be limiting of the invention. As used in the description ofthe invention and the appended claims, the singular forms “a”, “an” and“the” are intended to include the plural forms as well, unless thecontext clearly indicates otherwise. It will also be understood that theterm “and/or” as used herein refers to and encompasses any and allpossible combinations of one or more of the associated listed items. Itwill be further understood that the terms “includes,” “including,”“comprises,” and/or “comprising,” when used in this specification,specify the presence of stated features, integers, steps, operations,elements, and/or components, but do not preclude the presence oraddition of one or more other features, integers, steps, operations,elements, components, and/or groups thereof.

As used herein, the term “if” may be construed to mean “when” or “upon”or “in response to determining” or “in response to detecting,” dependingon the context. Similarly, the phrase “if it is determined” or “if [astated condition or event] is detected” may be construed to mean “upondetermining” or “in response to determining” or “upon detecting [thestated condition or event]” or “in response to detecting [the statedcondition or event],” depending on the context.

Embodiments of computing devices, user interfaces for such devices, andassociated processes for using such devices are described. In someembodiments, the computing device is a portable communications devicesuch as a mobile telephone that also contains other functions, such asPDA and/or music player functions. Exemplary embodiments of portablemultifunction devices include, without limitation, the iPhone® and iPodTouch® devices from Apple Inc. of Cupertino, Calif. Other portabledevices such as laptops or tablet computers with touch-sensitivesurfaces (e.g., touch screen displays and/or touch pads) may also beused. It should also be understood that, in some embodiments, the deviceis not a portable communications device, but is a desktop computer witha touch-sensitive surface (e.g., a touch screen display and/or a touchpad).

In the discussion that follows, a computing device that includes adisplay and a touch-sensitive surface is described. It should beunderstood, however, that the computing device may include one or moreother physical user-interface devices, such as a physical keyboard, amouse and/or a joystick.

The device supports a variety of applications, such as one or more ofthe following: a drawing application, a presentation application, a wordprocessing application, a website creation application, a disk authoringapplication, a spreadsheet application, a gaming application, atelephone application, a video conferencing application, an e-mailapplication, an instant messaging application, a workout supportapplication, a photo management application, a digital cameraapplication, a digital video camera application, a web browsingapplication, a digital music player application, and/or a digital videoplayer application.

The various applications that may be executed on the device may use atleast one common physical user-interface device, such as thetouch-sensitive surface. One or more functions of the touch-sensitivesurface as well as corresponding information displayed on the device maybe adjusted and/or varied from one application to the next and/or withina respective application. In this way, a common physical architecture(such as the touch-sensitive surface) of the device may support thevariety of applications with user interfaces that are intuitive andtransparent.

The user interfaces may include one or more soft keyboard embodiments.The soft keyboard embodiments may include standard (QWERTY) and/ornon-standard configurations of symbols on the displayed icons of thekeyboard, such as those described in U.S. patent application Ser. Nos.11/459,606, “Keyboards For Portable Electronic Devices,” filed Jul. 24,2006, and 11/459,615, “Touch Screen Keyboards For Portable ElectronicDevices,” filed Jul. 24, 2006, the contents of which are herebyincorporated by reference in their entirety. The keyboard embodimentsmay include a reduced number of icons (or soft keys) relative to thenumber of keys in existing physical keyboards, such as that for atypewriter. This may make it easier for users to select one or moreicons in the keyboard, and thus, one or more corresponding symbols. Thekeyboard embodiments may be adaptive. For example, displayed icons maybe modified in accordance with user actions, such as selecting one ormore icons and/or one or more corresponding symbols. One or moreapplications on the device may utilize common and/or different keyboardembodiments. Thus, the keyboard embodiment used may be tailored to atleast some of the applications. In some embodiments, one or morekeyboard embodiments may be tailored to a respective user. For example,one or more keyboard embodiments may be tailored to a respective userbased on a word usage history (lexicography, slang, individual usage) ofthe respective user. Some of the keyboard embodiments may be adjusted toreduce a probability of a user error when selecting one or more icons,and thus one or more symbols, when using the soft keyboard embodiments.

Attention is now directed towards embodiments of portable devices withtouch-sensitive displays. FIGS. 1A and 1B are block diagramsillustrating portable multifunction devices 100 with touch-sensitivedisplays 112 in accordance with some embodiments. The touch-sensitivedisplay 112 is sometimes called a “touch screen” for convenience, andmay also be known as or called a touch-sensitive display system. Thedevice 100 may include a memory 102 (which may include one or morecomputer readable storage mediums), a memory controller 122, one or moreprocessing units (CPU's) 120, a peripherals interface 118, RF circuitry108, audio circuitry 110, a speaker 111, a microphone 113, aninput/output (I/O) subsystem 106, other input or control devices 116,and an external port 124. The device 100 may include one or more opticalsensors 164. These components may communicate over one or morecommunication buses or signal lines 103.

It should be appreciated that the device 100 is only one example of aportable multifunction device 100, and that the device 100 may have moreor fewer components than shown, may combine two or more components, or amay have a different configuration or arrangement of the components. Thevarious components shown in FIGS. 1A and 1B may be implemented inhardware, software, or a combination of both hardware and software,including one or more signal processing and/or application specificintegrated circuits.

Memory 102 may include high-speed random access memory and may alsoinclude non-volatile memory, such as one or more magnetic disk storagedevices, flash memory devices, or other non-volatile solid-state memorydevices. Access to memory 102 by other components of the device 100,such as the CPU 120 and the peripherals interface 118, may be controlledby the memory controller 122.

The peripherals interface 118 couples the input and output peripheralsof the device to the CPU 120 and memory 102. The one or more processors120 run or execute various software programs and/or sets of instructionsstored in memory 102 to perform various functions for the device 100 andto process data.

In some embodiments, the peripherals interface 118, the CPU 120, and thememory controller 122 may be implemented on a single chip, such as achip 104. In some other embodiments, they may be implemented on separatechips.

The RF (radio frequency) circuitry 108 receives and sends RF signals,also called electromagnetic signals. The RF circuitry 108 convertselectrical signals to/from electromagnetic signals and communicates withcommunications networks and other communications devices via theelectromagnetic signals. The RF circuitry 108 may include well-knowncircuitry for performing these functions, including but not limited toan antenna system, an RF transceiver, one or more amplifiers, a tuner,one or more oscillators, a digital signal processor, a CODEC chipset, asubscriber identity module (SIM) card, memory, and so forth. The RFcircuitry 108 may communicate with networks, such as the Internet, alsoreferred to as the World Wide Web (WWW), an intranet and/or a wirelessnetwork, such as a cellular telephone network, a wireless local areanetwork (LAN) and/or a metropolitan area network (MAN), and otherdevices by wireless communication. The wireless communication may useany of a plurality of communications standards, protocols andtechnologies, including but not limited to Global System for MobileCommunications (GSM), Enhanced Data GSM Environment (EDGE), high-speeddownlink packet access (HSDPA), wideband code division multiple access(W-CDMA), code division multiple access (CDMA), time division multipleaccess (TDMA), Bluetooth, Wireless Fidelity (Wi-Fi) (e.g., IEEE 802.11a,IEEE 802.11b, IEEE 802.11g and/or IEEE 802.11n), voice over InternetProtocol (VoIP), Wi-MAX, a protocol for email (e.g., Internet messageaccess protocol (IMAP) and/or post office protocol (POP)), instantmessaging (e.g., extensible messaging and presence protocol (XMPP),Session Initiation Protocol for Instant Messaging and PresenceLeveraging Extensions (SIMPLE), Instant Messaging and Presence Service(IMPS)), and/or Short Message Service (SMS), or any other suitablecommunication protocol, including communication protocols not yetdeveloped as of the filing date of this document.

The audio circuitry 110, the speaker 111, and the microphone 113 providean audio interface between a user and the device 100. The audiocircuitry 110 receives audio data from the peripherals interface 118,converts the audio data to an electrical signal, and transmits theelectrical signal to the speaker 111. The speaker 111 converts theelectrical signal to human-audible sound waves. The audio circuitry 110also receives electrical signals converted by the microphone 113 fromsound waves. The audio circuitry 110 converts the electrical signal toaudio data and transmits the audio data to the peripherals interface 118for processing. Audio data may be retrieved from and/or transmitted tomemory 102 and/or the RF circuitry 108 by the peripherals interface 118.In some embodiments, the audio circuitry 110 also includes a headsetjack (e.g. 212, FIG. 2). The headset jack provides an interface betweenthe audio circuitry 110 and removable audio input/output peripherals,such as output-only headphones or a headset with both output (e.g., aheadphone for one or both ears) and input (e.g., a microphone).

The I/O subsystem 106 couples input/output peripherals on the device100, such as the touch screen 112 and other input/control devices 116,to the peripherals interface 118. The I/O subsystem 106 may include adisplay controller 156 and one or more input controllers 160 for otherinput or control devices. The one or more input controllers 160receive/send electrical signals from/to other input or control devices116. The other input/control devices 116 may include physical buttons(e.g., push buttons, rocker buttons, etc.), dials, slider switches,joysticks, click wheels, and so forth. In some alternate embodiments,input controller(s) 160 may be coupled to any (or none) of thefollowing: a keyboard, infrared port, USB port, and a pointer devicesuch as a mouse. The one or more buttons (e.g., 208, FIG. 2) may includean up/down button for volume control of the speaker 111 and/or themicrophone 113. The one or more buttons may include a push button (e.g.,206, FIG. 2). A quick press of the push button may disengage a lock ofthe touch screen 112 or begin a process that uses gestures on the touchscreen to unlock the device, as described in U.S. patent applicationSer. No. 11/322,549, “Unlocking a Device by Performing Gestures on anUnlock Image,” filed Dec. 23, 2005, which is hereby incorporated byreference in its entirety. A longer press of the push button (e.g., 206)may turn power to the device 100 on or off. The user may be able tocustomize a functionality of one or more of the buttons. The touchscreen 112 is used to implement virtual or soft buttons and one or moresoft keyboards.

The touch-sensitive touch screen 112 provides an input interface and anoutput interface between the device and a user. The display controller156 receives and/or sends electrical signals from/to the touch screen112. The touch screen 112 displays visual output to the user. The visualoutput may include graphics, text, icons, video, and any combinationthereof (collectively termed “graphics”). In some embodiments, some orall of the visual output may correspond to user-interface objects.

A touch screen 112 has a touch-sensitive surface, sensor or set ofsensors that accepts input from the user based on haptic and/or tactilecontact. The touch screen 112 and the display controller 156 (along withany associated modules and/or sets of instructions in memory 102) detectcontact (and any movement or breaking of the contact) on the touchscreen 112 and converts the detected contact into interaction withuser-interface objects (e.g., one or more soft keys, icons, web pages orimages) that are displayed on the touch screen. In an exemplaryembodiment, a point of contact between a touch screen 112 and the usercorresponds to a finger of the user.

The touch screen 112 may use LCD (liquid crystal display) technology, orLPD (light emitting polymer display) technology, although other displaytechnologies may be used in other embodiments. The touch screen 112 andthe display controller 156 may detect contact and any movement orbreaking thereof using any of a plurality of touch sensing technologiesnow known or later developed, including but not limited to capacitive,resistive, infrared, and surface acoustic wave technologies, as well asother proximity sensor arrays or other elements for determining one ormore points of contact with a touch screen 112. In an exemplaryembodiment, projected mutual capacitance sensing technology is used,such as that found in the iPhone® and iPod Touch® from Apple Inc. ofCupertino, Calif.

A touch-sensitive display in some embodiments of the touch screen 112may be analogous to the multi-touch sensitive touchpads described in thefollowing U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,323,846 (Westerman et al.), 6,570,557(Westerman et al.), and/or 6,677,932 (Westerman), and/or U.S. PatentPublication 2002/0015024A1, each of which is hereby incorporated byreference in its entirety. However, a touch screen 112 displays visualoutput from the portable device 100, whereas touch sensitive touchpadsdo not provide visual output.

A touch-sensitive display in some embodiments of the touch screen 112may be as described in the following applications: (1) U.S. patentapplication Ser. No. 11/381,313, “Multipoint Touch Surface Controller,”filed May 2, 2006; (2) U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/840,862,“Multipoint Touchscreen,” filed May 6, 2004; (3) U.S. patent applicationSer. No. 10/903,964, “Gestures For Touch Sensitive Input Devices,” filedJul. 30, 2004; (4) U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/048,264,“Gestures For Touch Sensitive Input Devices,” filed Jan. 31, 2005; (5)U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/038,590, “Mode-Based Graphical UserInterfaces For Touch Sensitive Input Devices,” filed Jan. 18, 2005; (6)U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/228,758, “Virtual Input DevicePlacement On A Touch Screen User Interface,” filed Sep. 16, 2005; (7)U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/228,700, “Operation Of A ComputerWith A Touch Screen Interface,” filed Sep. 16, 2005; (8) U.S. patentapplication Ser. No. 11/228,737, “Activating Virtual Keys Of ATouch-Screen Virtual Keyboard,” filed Sep. 16, 2005; and (9) U.S. patentapplication Ser. No. 11/367,749, “Multi-Functional Hand-Held Device,”filed Mar. 3, 2006. All of these applications are incorporated byreference herein in their entirety.

The touch screen 112 may have a resolution in excess of 100 dpi. In anexemplary embodiment, the touch screen has a resolution of approximately160 dpi. The user may make contact with the touch screen 112 using anysuitable object or appendage, such as a stylus, a finger, and so forth.In some embodiments, the user interface is designed to work primarilywith finger-based contacts and gestures, which are much less precisethan stylus-based input due to the larger area of contact of a finger onthe touch screen. In some embodiments, the device translates the roughfinger-based input into a precise pointer/cursor position or command forperforming the actions desired by the user.

In some embodiments, in addition to the touch screen, the device 100 mayinclude a touchpad (not shown) for activating or deactivating particularfunctions. In some embodiments, the touchpad is a touch-sensitive areaof the device that, unlike the touch screen, does not display visualoutput. The touchpad may be a touch-sensitive surface that is separatefrom the touch screen 112 or an extension of the touch-sensitive surfaceformed by the touch screen.

In some embodiments, the device 100 may include a physical or virtualclick wheel as an input control device 116. A user may navigate amongand interact with one or more graphical objects (e.g., icons) displayedin the touch screen 112 by rotating the click wheel or by moving a pointof contact with the click wheel (e.g., where the amount of movement ofthe point of contact is measured by its angular displacement withrespect to a center point of the click wheel). The click wheel may alsobe used to select one or more of the displayed icons. For example, theuser may press down on at least a portion of the click wheel or anassociated button. User commands and navigation commands provided by theuser via the click wheel may be processed by an input controller 160 aswell as one or more of the modules and/or sets of instructions in memory102. For a virtual click wheel, the click wheel and click wheelcontroller may be part of the touch screen 112 and the displaycontroller 156, respectively. For a virtual click wheel, the click wheelmay be either an opaque or semitransparent object that appears anddisappears on the touch screen display in response to user interactionwith the device. In some embodiments, a virtual click wheel is displayedon the touch screen of a portable multifunction device and operated byuser contact with the touch screen.

The device 100 also includes a power system 162 for powering the variouscomponents. The power system 162 may include a power management system,one or more power sources (e.g., battery, alternating current (AC)), arecharging system, a power failure detection circuit, a power converteror inverter, a power status indicator (e.g., a light-emitting diode(LED)) and any other components associated with the generation,management and distribution of power in portable devices.

The device 100 may also include one or more optical sensors 164. FIGS.1A and 1B show an optical sensor coupled to an optical sensor controller158 in I/O subsystem 106. The optical sensor 164 may includecharge-coupled device (CCD) or complementary metal-oxide semiconductor(CMOS) phototransistors. The optical sensor 164 receives light from theenvironment, projected through one or more lens, and converts the lightto data representing an image. In conjunction with an imaging module 143(also called a camera module), the optical sensor 164 may capture stillimages or video. In some embodiments, an optical sensor is located onthe back of the device 100, opposite the touch screen display 112 on thefront of the device, so that the touch screen display may be used as aviewfinder for still and/or video image acquisition. In someembodiments, an optical sensor is located on the front of the device sothat the user's image may be obtained for videoconferencing while theuser views the other video conference participants on the touch screendisplay. In some embodiments, the position of the optical sensor 164 canbe changed by the user (e.g., by rotating the lens and the sensor in thedevice housing) so that a single optical sensor 164 may be used alongwith the touch screen display for both video conferencing and stilland/or video image acquisition.

The device 100 may also include one or more proximity sensors 166. FIGS.1A and 1B show a proximity sensor 166 coupled to the peripheralsinterface 118. Alternately, the proximity sensor 166 may be coupled toan input controller 160 in the I/O subsystem 106. The proximity sensor166 may perform as described in U.S. patent application Ser. Nos.11/241,839, “Proximity Detector In Handheld Device”; 11/240,788,“Proximity Detector In Handheld Device”; 11/620,702, “Using AmbientLight Sensor To Augment Proximity Sensor Output”; 11/586,862, “AutomatedResponse To And Sensing Of User Activity In Portable Devices”; and11/638,251, “Methods And Systems For Automatic Configuration OfPeripherals,” which are hereby incorporated by reference in theirentirety. In some embodiments, the proximity sensor turns off anddisables the touch screen 112 when the multifunction device is placednear the user's ear (e.g., when the user is making a phone call).

The device 100 may also include one or more accelerometers 168. FIGS. 1Aand 1B show an accelerometer 168 coupled to the peripherals interface118. Alternately, the accelerometer 168 may be coupled to an inputcontroller 160 in the I/O subsystem 106. The accelerometer 168 mayperform as described in U.S. Patent Publication No. 20050190059,“Acceleration-based Theft Detection System for Portable ElectronicDevices,” and U.S. Patent Publication No. 20060017692, “Methods AndApparatuses For Operating A Portable Device Based On An Accelerometer,”both of which are which are incorporated by reference herein in theirentirety. In some embodiments, information is displayed on the touchscreen display in a portrait view or a landscape view based on ananalysis of data received from the one or more accelerometers.

In some embodiments, the software components stored in memory 102 mayinclude an operating system 126, a communication module (or set ofinstructions) 128, a contact/motion module (or set of instructions) 130,a graphics module (or set of instructions) 132, a text input module (orset of instructions) 134, a Global Positioning System (GPS) module (orset of instructions) 135, and applications (or set of instructions) 136.

The operating system 126 (e.g., Darwin, RTXC, LINUX, UNIX, OS X,WINDOWS, or an embedded operating system such as VxWorks) includesvarious software components and/or drivers for controlling and managinggeneral system tasks (e.g., memory management, storage device control,power management, etc.) and facilitates communication between varioushardware and software components.

The communication module 128 facilitates communication with otherdevices over one or more external ports 124 and also includes varioussoftware components for handling data received by the RF circuitry 108and/or the external port 124. The external port 124 (e.g., UniversalSerial Bus (USB), FIREWIRE, etc.) is adapted for coupling directly toother devices or indirectly over a network (e.g., the Internet, wirelessLAN, etc.). In some embodiments, the external port is a multi-pin (e.g.,30-pin) connector that is the same as, or similar to and/or compatiblewith the 30-pin connector used on iPod (trademark of Apple Inc.)devices.

The contact/motion module 130 may detect contact with the touch screen112 (in conjunction with the display controller 156) and other touchsensitive devices (e.g., a touchpad or physical click wheel). Thecontact/motion module 130 includes various software components forperforming various operations related to detection of contact, such asdetermining if contact has occurred (e.g., detecting a finger-downevent), determining if there is movement of the contact and tracking themovement across the touch-sensitive surface (e.g., detecting one or morefinger-dragging events), and determining if the contact has ceased(e.g., detecting a finger-up event or a break in contact). Thecontact/motion module 130 receives contact data from the touch-sensitivesurface. Determining movement of the point of contact, which isrepresented by a series of contact data, may include determining speed(magnitude), velocity (magnitude and direction), and/or an acceleration(a change in magnitude and/or direction) of the point of contact. Theseoperations may be applied to single contacts (e.g., one finger contacts)or to multiple simultaneous contacts (e.g., “multitouch”/multiple fingercontacts). In some embodiments, the contact/motion module 130 and thedisplay controller 156 detects contact on a touchpad. In someembodiments, the contact/motion module 130 and the controller 160detects contact on a click wheel.

The contact/motion module 130 may detect a gesture input by a user.Different gestures on the touch-sensitive surface have different contactpatterns. Thus, a gesture may be detected by detecting a particularcontact pattern. For example, detecting a finger tap gesture includesdetecting a finger-down event followed by detecting a finger-up event atthe same position (or substantially the same position) as thefinger-down event (e.g., at the position of an icon). As anotherexample, detecting a finger swipe gesture on the touch-sensitive surfaceincludes detecting a finger-down event followed by detecting one or morefinger-dragging events, and subsequently followed by detecting afinger-up event.

The graphics module 132 includes various known software components forrendering and displaying graphics on the touch screen 112 or otherdisplay, including components for changing the intensity of graphicsthat are displayed. As used herein, the term “graphics” includes anyobject that can be displayed to a user, including without limitationtext, web pages, icons (such as user-interface objects including softkeys), digital images, videos, animations and the like.

In some embodiments, the graphics module 132 stores data representinggraphics to be used. Each graphic may be assigned a corresponding code.The graphics module 132 receives, from applications etc., one or morecodes specifying graphics to be displayed along with, if necessary,coordinate data and other graphic property data, and then generatesscreen image data to output to display controller 156.

The text input module 134, which may be a component of graphics module132, provides soft keyboards for entering text in various applications(e.g., contacts 137, e-mail 140, IM 141, browser 147, and any otherapplication that needs text input).

The GPS module 135 determines the location of the device and providesthis information for use in various applications (e.g., to telephone 138for use in location-based dialing, to camera 143 as picture/videometadata, and to applications that provide location-based services suchas weather widgets, local yellow page widgets, and map/navigationwidgets).

The applications 136 may include the following modules (or sets ofinstructions), or a subset or superset thereof:

-   -   a contacts module 137 (sometimes called an address book or        contact list);    -   a telephone module 138;    -   a video conferencing module 139;    -   an e-mail client module 140;    -   an instant messaging (IM) module 141;    -   a workout support module 142;    -   a camera module 143 for still and/or video images;    -   an image management module 144;    -   a video player module 145;    -   a music player module 146;    -   a browser module 147;    -   a calendar module 148;    -   widget modules 149, which may include weather widget 149-1,        stocks widget 149-2, calculator widget 149-3, alarm clock widget        149-4, dictionary widget 149-5, and other widgets obtained by        the user, as well as user-created widgets 149-6;    -   widget creator module 150 for making user-created widgets 149-6;    -   search module 151;    -   video and music player module 152, which merges video player        module 145 and music player module 146;    -   notes module 153;    -   map module 154; and/or    -   online video module 155.

Examples of other applications 136 that may be stored in memory 102include other word processing applications, other image editingapplications, drawing applications, presentation applications,JAVA-enabled applications, encryption, digital rights management, voicerecognition, and voice replication.

In conjunction with touch screen 112, display controller 156, contactmodule 130, graphics module 132, and text input module 134, the contactsmodule 137 may be used to manage an address book or contact list,including: adding name(s) to the address book; deleting name(s) from theaddress book; associating telephone number(s), e-mail address(es),physical address(es) or other information with a name; associating animage with a name; categorizing and sorting names; providing telephonenumbers or e-mail addresses to initiate and/or facilitate communicationsby telephone 138, video conference 139, e-mail 140, or IM 141; and soforth.

In conjunction with RF circuitry 108, audio circuitry 110, speaker 111,microphone 113, touch screen 112, display controller 156, contact module130, graphics module 132, and text input module 134, the telephonemodule 138 may be used to enter a sequence of characters correspondingto a telephone number, access one or more telephone numbers in theaddress book 137, modify a telephone number that has been entered, diala respective telephone number, conduct a conversation and disconnect orhang up when the conversation is completed. As noted above, the wirelesscommunication may use any of a plurality of communications standards,protocols and technologies.

In conjunction with RF circuitry 108, audio circuitry 110, speaker 111,microphone 113, touch screen 112, display controller 156, optical sensor164, optical sensor controller 158, contact module 130, graphics module132, text input module 134, contact list 137, and telephone module 138,the videoconferencing module 139 may be used to initiate, conduct, andterminate a video conference between a user and one or more otherparticipants.

In conjunction with RF circuitry 108, touch screen 112, displaycontroller 156, contact module 130, graphics module 132, and text inputmodule 134, the e-mail client module 140 may be used to create, send,receive, and manage e-mail. In conjunction with image management module144, the e-mail module 140 makes it very easy to create and send e-mailswith still or video images taken with camera module 143.

In conjunction with RF circuitry 108, touch screen 112, displaycontroller 156, contact module 130, graphics module 132, and text inputmodule 134, the instant messaging module 141 may be used to enter asequence of characters corresponding to an instant message, to modifypreviously entered characters, to transmit a respective instant message(for example, using a Short Message Service (SMS) or Multimedia MessageService (MMS) protocol for telephony-based instant messages or usingXMPP, SIMPLE, or IMPS for Internet-based instant messages), to receiveinstant messages and to view received instant messages. In someembodiments, transmitted and/or received instant messages may includegraphics, photos, audio files, video files and/or other attachments asare supported in a MMS and/or an Enhanced Messaging Service (EMS). Asused herein, “instant messaging” refers to both telephony-based messages(e.g., messages sent using SMS or MMS) and Internet-based messages(e.g., messages sent using XMPP, SIMPLE, or IMPS).

In conjunction with RF circuitry 108, touch screen 112, displaycontroller 156, contact module 130, graphics module 132, text inputmodule 134, GPS module 135, map module 154, and music player module 146,the workout support module 142 may be used to create workouts (e.g.,with time, distance, and/or calorie burning goals); communicate withworkout sensors (sports devices); receive workout sensor data; calibratesensors used to monitor a workout; select and play music for a workout;and display, store and transmit workout data.

In conjunction with touch screen 112, display controller 156, opticalsensor(s) 164, optical sensor controller 158, contact module 130,graphics module 132, and image management module 144, the camera module143 may be used to capture still images or video (including a videostream) and store them into memory 102, modify characteristics of astill image or video, or delete a still image or video from memory 102.

In conjunction with touch screen 112, display controller 156, contactmodule 130, graphics module 132, text input module 134, and cameramodule 143, the image management module 144 may be used to arrange,modify (e.g., edit), or otherwise manipulate, label, delete, present(e.g., in a digital slide show or album), and store still and/or videoimages.

In conjunction with touch screen 112, display controller 156, contactmodule 130, graphics module 132, audio circuitry 110, and speaker 111,the video player module 145 may be used to display, present or otherwiseplay back videos (e.g., on the touch screen or on an external, connecteddisplay via external port 124).

In conjunction with touch screen 112, display system controller 156,contact module 130, graphics module 132, audio circuitry 110, speaker111, RF circuitry 108, and browser module 147, the music player module146 allows the user to download and play back recorded music and othersound files stored in one or more file formats, such as MP3 or AACfiles. In some embodiments, the device 100 may include the functionalityof an MP3 player, such as an iPod (trademark of Apple Inc.).

In conjunction with RF circuitry 108, touch screen 112, display systemcontroller 156, contact module 130, graphics module 132, and text inputmodule 134, the browser module 147 may be used to browse the Internet,including searching, linking to, receiving, and displaying web pages orportions thereof, as well as attachments and other files linked to webpages.

In conjunction with RF circuitry 108, touch screen 112, display systemcontroller 156, contact module 130, graphics module 132, text inputmodule 134, e-mail module 140, and browser module 147, the calendarmodule 148 may be used to create, display, modify, and store calendarsand data associated with calendars (e.g., calendar entries, to do lists,etc.).

In conjunction with RF circuitry 108, touch screen 112, display systemcontroller 156, contact module 130, graphics module 132, text inputmodule 134, and browser module 147, the widget modules 149 aremini-applications that may be downloaded and used by a user (e.g.,weather widget 149-1, stocks widget 149-2, calculator widget 149-3,alarm clock widget 149-4, and dictionary widget 149-5) or created by theuser (e.g., user-created widget 149-6). In some embodiments, a widgetincludes an HTML (Hypertext Markup Language) file, a CSS (CascadingStyle Sheets) file, and a JavaScript file. In some embodiments, a widgetincludes an XML (Extensible Markup Language) file and a JavaScript file(e.g., Yahoo! Widgets).

In conjunction with RF circuitry 108, touch screen 112, display systemcontroller 156, contact module 130, graphics module 132, text inputmodule 134, and browser module 147, the widget creator module 150 may beused by a user to create widgets (e.g., turning a user-specified portionof a web page into a widget).

In conjunction with touch screen 112, display system controller 156,contact module 130, graphics module 132, and text input module 134, thesearch module 151 may be used to search for text, music, sound, image,video, and/or other files in memory 102 that match one or more searchcriteria (e.g., one or more user-specified search terms).

In conjunction with touch screen 112, display controller 156, contactmodule 130, graphics module 132, and text input module 134, the notesmodule 153 may be used to create and manage notes, to do lists, and thelike.

In conjunction with RF circuitry 108, touch screen 112, display systemcontroller 156, contact module 130, graphics module 132, text inputmodule 134, GPS module 135, and browser module 147, the map module 154may be used to receive, display, modify, and store maps and dataassociated with maps (e.g., driving directions; data on stores and otherpoints of interest at or near a particular location; and otherlocation-based data).

In conjunction with touch screen 112, display system controller 156,contact module 130, graphics module 132, audio circuitry 110, speaker111, RF circuitry 108, text input module 134, e-mail client module 140,and browser module 147, the online video module 155 allows the user toaccess, browse, receive (e.g., by streaming and/or download), play back(e.g., on the touch screen or on an external, connected display viaexternal port 124), send an e-mail with a link to a particular onlinevideo, and otherwise manage online videos in one or more file formats,such as H.264. In some embodiments, instant messaging module 141, ratherthan e-mail client module 140, is used to send a link to a particularonline video. Additional description of the online video application canbe found in U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 60/936,562,“Portable Multifunction Device, Method, and Graphical User Interface forPlaying Online Videos,” filed Jun. 20, 2007, and U.S. patent applicationSer. No. 11/968,067, “Portable Multifunction Device, Method, andGraphical User Interface for Playing Online Videos,” filed Dec. 31,2007, the content of which is hereby incorporated by reference in itsentirety.

Each of the above identified modules and applications correspond to aset of executable instructions for performing one or more functionsdescribed above and the methods described in this application (e.g., thecomputer-implemented methods and other information processing methodsdescribed herein). These modules (i.e., sets of instructions) need notbe implemented as separate software programs, procedures or modules, andthus various subsets of these modules may be combined or otherwisere-arranged in various embodiments. For example, video player module 145may be combined with music player module 146 into a single module (e.g.,video and music player module 152, FIG. 1B). In some embodiments, memory102 may store a subset of the modules and data structures identifiedabove. Furthermore, memory 102 may store additional modules and datastructures not described above.

In some embodiments, the device 100 is a device where operation of apredefined set of functions on the device is performed exclusivelythrough a touch screen 112 and/or a touchpad. By using a touch screenand/or a touchpad as the primary input/control device for operation ofthe device 100, the number of physical input/control devices (such aspush buttons, dials, and the like) on the device 100 may be reduced.

The predefined set of functions that may be performed exclusivelythrough a touch screen and/or a touchpad include navigation between userinterfaces. In some embodiments, the touchpad, when touched by the user,navigates the device 100 to a main, home, or root menu from any userinterface that may be displayed on the device 100. In such embodiments,the touchpad may be referred to as a “menu button.” In some otherembodiments, the menu button may be a physical push button or otherphysical input/control device instead of a touchpad.

FIG. 2 illustrates a portable multifunction device 100 having a touchscreen 112 in accordance with some embodiments. The touch screen maydisplay one or more graphics within user interface (UI) 200. In thisembodiment, as well as others described below, a user may select one ormore of the graphics by making contact or touching the graphics, forexample, with one or more fingers 202 (not drawn to scale in the figure)or one or more styluses 203 (not drawn to scale in the figure). In someembodiments, selection of one or more graphics occurs when the userbreaks contact with the one or more graphics. In some embodiments, thecontact may include a gesture, such as one or more taps, one or moreswipes (from left to right, right to left, upward and/or downward)and/or a rolling of a finger (from right to left, left to right, upwardand/or downward) that has made contact with the device 100. In someembodiments, inadvertent contact with a graphic may not select thegraphic. For example, a swipe gesture that sweeps over an applicationicon may not select the corresponding application when the gesturecorresponding to selection is a tap.

The device 100 may also include one or more physical buttons, such as“home” or menu button 204. As described previously, the menu button 204may be used to navigate to any application 136 in a set of applicationsthat may be executed on the device 100. Alternatively, in someembodiments, the menu button is implemented as a soft key in a GUI intouch screen 112.

In one embodiment, the device 100 includes a touch screen 112, a menubutton 204, a push button 206 for powering the device on/off and lockingthe device, volume adjustment button(s) 208, a Subscriber IdentityModule (SIM) card slot 210, a head set jack 212, and a docking/chargingexternal port 124. The push button 206 may be used to turn the poweron/off on the device by depressing the button and holding the button inthe depressed state for a predefined time interval; to lock the deviceby depressing the button and releasing the button before the predefinedtime interval has elapsed; and/or to unlock the device or initiate anunlock process. In an alternative embodiment, the device 100 also mayaccept verbal input for activation or deactivation of some functionsthrough the microphone 113.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram of an exemplary multifunction device with adisplay and a touch-sensitive surface in accordance with someembodiments. Device 300 need not be portable. In some embodiments, thedevice 300 is a laptop computer, a desktop computer, a tablet computer,a multimedia player device, a navigation device, an educational device(such as a child's learning toy), a gaming system, or a control device(e.g., a home or industrial controller). The device 300 typicallyincludes one or more processing units (CPU's) 310, one or more networkor other communications interfaces 360, memory 370, and one or morecommunication buses 320 for interconnecting these components. Thecommunication buses 320 may include circuitry (sometimes called achipset) that interconnects and controls communications between systemcomponents. The device 300 includes an input/output (I/O) interface 330comprising a display 340, which is typically a touch screen display 112.The I/O interface 330 also may include a keyboard and/or mouse (or otherpointing device) 350 and a touchpad 355. Memory 370 includes high-speedrandom access memory, such as DRAM, SRAM, DDR RAM or other random accesssolid state memory devices; and may include non-volatile memory, such asone or more magnetic disk storage devices, optical disk storage devices,flash memory devices, or other non-volatile solid state storage devices.Memory 370 may optionally include one or more storage devices remotelylocated from the CPU(s) 310. In some embodiments, memory 370 storesprograms, modules, and data structures analogous to the programs,modules, and data structures stored in the memory 102 of portablemultifunction device 100 (FIG. 1), or a subset thereof. Furthermore,memory 370 may store additional programs, modules, and data structuresnot present in the memory 102 of portable multifunction device 100. Forexample, memory 370 of device 300 may store drawing module 380,presentation module 382, word processing module 384, website creationmodule 386, disk authoring module 388, and/or spreadsheet module 390,while memory 102 of portable multifunction device 100 (FIG. 1) may notstore these modules.

Each of the above identified elements in FIG. 3 may be stored in one ormore of the previously mentioned memory devices. Each of the aboveidentified modules corresponds to a set of instructions for performing afunction described above. The above identified modules or programs(i.e., sets of instructions) need not be implemented as separatesoftware programs, procedures or modules, and thus various subsets ofthese modules may be combined or otherwise re-arranged in variousembodiments. In some embodiments, memory 370 may store a subset of themodules and data structures identified above. Furthermore, memory 370may store additional modules and data structures not described above.

Attention is now directed towards embodiments of user interfaces (“UI”)that may be implemented on a portable multifunction device 100.

FIGS. 4A and 4B illustrate exemplary user interfaces for a menu ofapplications on a portable multifunction device 100 in accordance withsome embodiments. Similar user interfaces may be implemented on device300. In some embodiments, user interface 400A includes the followingelements, or a subset or superset thereof:

-   -   Signal strength indicator(s) 402 for wireless communication(s),        such as cellular and Wi-Fi signals;    -   Time 404;    -   Bluetooth indicator 405;    -   Battery status indicator 406;    -   Tray 408 with icons for frequently used applications, such as:        -   Phone 138, which may include an indicator 414 of the number            of missed calls or voicemail messages;        -   E-mail client 140, which may include an indicator 410 of the            number of unread e-mails;        -   Browser 147; and        -   Music player 146; and    -   Icons for other applications, such as:        -   IM 141;        -   Image management 144;        -   Camera 143;        -   Video player 145;        -   Weather 149-1;        -   Stocks 149-2;        -   Workout support 142;        -   Calendar 148;        -   Calculator 149-3;        -   Alarm clock 149-4;        -   Dictionary 149-5; and        -   User-created widget 149-6.

In some embodiments, user interface 40013 includes the followingelements, or a subset or superset thereof:

-   -   402, 404, 405, 406, 141, 148, 144, 143, 149-3, 149-2, 149-1,        149-4, 410, 414, 138, 140, and 147, as described above;    -   Map 154;    -   Notes 153;    -   Settings 412, which provides access to settings for the device        100 and its various applications 136, as described further        below;    -   Video and music player module 152, also referred to as iPod        (trademark of Apple Inc.) module 152; and    -   Online video module 155, also referred to as YouTube (trademark        of Google, Inc.) module 155.

FIG. 4C illustrates an exemplary user interface on a device (e.g.,device 300, FIG. 3) with a touch-sensitive surface 451 (e.g., a tabletor touchpad 355, FIG. 3) that is separate from the display 450 (e.g.,touch screen display 112). Although many of the examples which followwill be given with reference to inputs on a touch screen display 112(where the touch sensitive surface and the display are combined), insome embodiments, the device detects inputs on a touch-sensitive surfacethat is separate from the display, as shown in FIG. 4C. In someembodiments the touch sensitive surface (e.g., 451 in FIG. 4C) has aprimary axis (e.g., 452 in FIG. 4C) that corresponds to a primary axis(e.g., 453 in FIG. 4C) on the display (e.g., 450). In accordance withthese embodiments, the device detects a contact (e.g., 460 in FIG. 4C)with the touch-sensitive surface 451 at a location that corresponds to arespective location on the display (e.g., in FIG. 4C 460 corresponds to462). In this way, user inputs (e.g., contact 460) detected by thedevice on the touch-sensitive surface (e.g., 451 in FIG. 4C) are used bythe device to manipulate the user interface on the display (e.g., 450 inFIG. 4C) of the multifunction device when the touch-sensitive surface isseparate from the display. It should be understood that similar methodsmay be used for other user interfaces described herein.

In FIG. 4C, a first input on the touch-sensitive surface 451 includes acontact 462 associated with an object activation region 464 for arespective user interface object 466 of a plurality of user interfaceobjects (e.g., circle user interface object 467 and triangle userinterface object 468) displayed on the display and subsequent movement469 of the contact 460 across the touch-sensitive surface 451 to newcontact location. This movement of the contact on the touch sensitivesurface corresponds to movement 470 of the user interface objects 466across the display to a respective position on the display that isproximate to a first guide 472 and a second guide 474, and the devicemoves the user interface object 466 to the respective position. In someembodiments, the respective position is also proximate to a third guide476 as discussed in greater detail below. As discussed in greater detailbelow with reference to FIGS. 6E-6H, the device determines a firstplurality of candidate action and a first order for the first pluralityof candidate actions, and performs the first candidate action based onthe first ordering. While the present example is given with reference toa single embodiment, it should be understood that any of the examplesgiven below with reference to touch screen display could similarly beperformed on device with a display and a separate touch-sensitivesurface.

Additionally, while the following examples are given primarily withreference to finger inputs (e.g., finger contacts, finger tap gestures,finger swipe gestures), it should be understood that, in someembodiments, one or more of the finger inputs are replaced with inputfrom another input device (e.g., a mouse based input or stylus input).For example, a swipe gesture may be replaced with a mouse click (e.g.,instead of a contact) followed by movement of the cursor along the pathof the swipe (e.g., instead of movement of the contact). As anotherexample, a tap gesture may be replaced with a mouse click while thecursor is located over the location of the tap gesture (e.g., instead ofdetection of the contact followed by ceasing to detect the contact).Similarly, when multiple user inputs are simultaneously detected, itshould be understood that multiple computer mice may be usedsimultaneously, or a mouse and finger contacts may be usedsimultaneously.

Attention is now directed towards embodiments of user interfaces (“UI”)and associated processes that may be implemented on a computing devicewith a display and a touch-sensitive surface, such as device 300 orportable multifunction device 100.

FIGS. 5A-5D illustrate exemplary user interfaces for selecting a userinterface object in response to detecting an input on the user interfaceobject (e.g., tap gesture 5009 on the square user interface object5002-a), resizing the currently selected user interface object 5002 inaccordance with a first input (e.g., the movement 5044 of a firstcontact 5042 from a first contact location 5042-1 in FIG. 5B to a secondcontact location 5042-2 in FIG. 5C) and moving the position of a firsthandle activation region (e.g., 5026 in FIGS. 5B-5D) relative to anassociated resizing handle (e.g., 5010 in FIGS. 5B-5D), and repeatingthese steps for an additional input (e.g., the movement 5047 of a firstcontact 5046 from a first contact location 5046-1 in FIG. 5C to a secondcontact location 5046-2 in FIG. 5D) in accordance with some embodiments.The user interfaces in these figures are used to illustrate theprocesses described below, including the processes described inreference to FIGS. 8A-8D.

FIGS. 5E-5G illustrate exemplary user interfaces for resizing thecurrently selected user interface object 5004 with a bounding box 5049in accordance with a first input (e.g., the movement 5084 of a firstcontact 5082 from a first contact location 5082-1 in FIG. 5E to a secondcontact location 5082-2 in FIG. 5F) and changing the size of a firsthandle activation region (e.g., 5074 in FIGS. 5E-5G) that is associatedwith a first resizing handle (e.g. 5058 in FIGS. 5E-5G) of the boundingbox 5049 for the user interface object, and repeating these steps for anadditional input (e.g. the movement 5088 of contact 5086 from an initialcontact location 5086-1 in FIG. 5F to a second contact location 5086-2in FIG. 5G) in accordance with some embodiments. The user interfaces inthese figures are used to illustrate the processes described below,including the processes described in reference to FIGS. 8A-8D.

FIGS. 5H-5J illustrate exemplary user interfaces for resizing thecurrently selected user interface object 5089 in accordance with a firstinput (e.g., the movement 5124 of a first contact 5122 from a firstcontact location 5122-1 in FIG. 5H to a second contact location 5122-2in FIG. 5I) and changing the shape of a first handle activation region(e.g., 5110 in FIGS. 5H-5J) that is associated with a first resizinghandle (e.g. 5094 in FIGS. 5H-5J), and repeating these steps for anadditional input (e.g. the movement 5132 of contact 5130 from an initialcontact location 5130-1 in FIG. 5I to a second contact location 5130-2in FIG. 5J) in accordance with some embodiments. The user interfaces inthese figures are used to illustrate the processes described below,including the processes described in reference to FIGS. 8A-8D.

FIGS. 6A-6D illustrate exemplary user interfaces for simultaneouslydisplaying a plurality of user interface objects (e.g., 6002, 6005 and6006 in FIGS. 6A-6D), detecting a first input (e.g., tap and holdgesture 6040 in FIG. 6B); determining a first plurality of candidateactions (e.g., selecting respective resizing handle associated withactivation regions 6020, 6026, and 6038) with a first ordering;performing a first candidate action (e.g., selecting resizing handle6052 that is associated with an activation region 6020 for the square inFIG. 6B); detecting a second input (e.g., tap gesture 6057 in FIG. 6B);undoing the first candidate action (e.g., deselecting the resizinghandle 6052 that is associated with an activation region 6020 for thesquare, as illustrated in FIG. 6C); determining a second plurality ofcandidate actions with a second ordering and performing a secondcandidate action (e.g., selecting resizing handle 6060 that isassociated with an activation region 6026 for the triangle in FIG. 6C);and repeating these steps for an additional candidate action (e.g.,selecting resizing handle 6076 that is associated with an activationregion 6038 for the circle in FIG. 6D) in accordance with someembodiments. The user interfaces in these figures are used to illustratethe processes described below, including the processes described inreference to FIGS. 9A-9D.

FIGS. 6A-6C also illustrate exemplary user interfaces for simultaneouslydisplaying a plurality of user interface objects (e.g., 6002, 6005 and6006 in FIGS. 6A-6D), detecting a first input (e.g., tap and holdgesture 6040 in FIG. 6B); determining a first plurality of candidateactions (e.g., selecting respective resizing handle associated withactivation regions 6020, 6026, and 6038) with a first ordering;performing a first candidate action (e.g., selecting resizing handle6052 that is associated with an activation region 6020 for the square inFIG. 6B); receiving a second input (e.g., tap and hold gesture 6058 inFIG. 6C); determining a second plurality of candidate actions with asecond ordering; undoing the first candidate action (e.g., deselectingthe resizing handle 6052 that is associated with an activation region6020 for the square, as illustrated in FIG. 6C) and performing a secondcandidate action (e.g., selecting resizing handle 6060 that isassociated with an activation region 6026 for the triangle in FIG. 6C)in accordance with some embodiments. The user interfaces in thesefigures are used to illustrate the processes described below, includingthe processes described in reference to FIG. 10.

FIGS. 6E-6P illustrate exemplary user interfaces for simultaneouslydisplaying a plurality of user interface objects (e.g., 6002, 6005 and6006 in FIGS. 6E-6P), detecting a first input (e.g., tap and draggesture including contact 6078 and movement 6080 of the contact from afirst contact location 6078-1 to a second contact location 6078-2 inFIG. 6E); determining a first plurality of candidate actions (e.g.,snapping a user interface object 6002 to first guide 6082, a secondguide 6084, or third guide 6086) with a first ordering; performing afirst candidate action (e.g., snapping the user interface object 6002 tothe first guide 6082, as shown in FIGS. 6G-6H); detecting a second input(e.g., a keyboard command such as pressing control+z simultaneously);undoing the first candidate action (e.g., returning the user interfaceobject 6002 to its initial position, as illustrated in FIG. 6I);receiving a third input (e.g., tap and drag gesture including contact6090 and movement 6092 of the contact from a first contact location6090-1 to a second contact location 6090-2 in FIG. 6I) determining asecond plurality of candidate actions with a second ordering andperforming a second candidate action (e.g., snapping the user interfaceobject 6002 to the second guide 6084, as shown in FIGS. 6K-6L) andrepeating these steps for an additional candidate action (e.g., snappingthe user interface object 6002 to the third guide 6086, as shown inFIGS. 6O-6P) in accordance with some embodiments. The user interfaces inthese figures are used to illustrate the processes described below,including the processes described in reference to FIGS. 9A-9D.

FIGS. 6E-6P also illustrate exemplary user interfaces for simultaneouslydisplaying a plurality of user interface objects (e.g., 6002, 6005 and6006 in FIGS. 6E-6P), detecting a first input (e.g., tap and draggesture including contact 6078 and movement 6080 of the contact from afirst contact location 6078-1 to a second contact location 6078-2 inFIG. 6E); determining a first plurality of candidate actions (e.g.,snapping a user interface object 6002 to first guide 6082, a secondguide 6084, or third guide 6086) with a first ordering; performing afirst candidate action (e.g., snapping the user interface object 6002 tothe first guide 6082, as shown in FIGS. 6G-6H); receiving a second input(e.g., tap and drag gesture including contact 6090 and movement 6092 ofthe contact from a first contact location 6090-1 in FIG. 6I to a secondcontact location 6090-2 in FIG. 6J) that undoes the first candidateaction; determining a second plurality of candidate actions with asecond ordering and performing a second candidate action (e.g., snappingthe user interface object 6002 to the second guide 6084, as shown inFIGS. 6K-6L) and repeating these steps for an additional candidateaction (e.g., snapping the user interface object 6002 to the third guide6086, as shown in FIGS. 6O-6P) in accordance with some embodiments. Theuser interfaces in these figures are used to illustrate the processesdescribed below, including the processes described in reference to FIG.10.

FIGS. 7A-7E illustrate exemplary user interfaces for simultaneouslydisplaying a plurality of user interface objects (e.g., 7002, 7005 and7006 in FIGS. 7A-7E) in a display area 7007; detecting selection of oneof the user interface objects (e.g., 7005-a in FIG. 7A); detecting afirst contact (e.g., 7022 in FIG. 7B) with a first handle activationregion (e.g., 7016 in FIG. 7B) that corresponds to a first handle (e.g.,7010 in FIG. 7B), continuing to detect the first contact at the firstlocation for a predefined amount of time and automatically zoomingaround the first contact zooming the display area to a highermagnification level (e.g., 200%, as illustrated in FIGS. 7C-7D); whilethe display area is at the second magnification level, detecting amovement of the first contact (e.g., movement 7024 of the contact 7022from a first contact location 7022-1 in FIG. 7C to a second contactlocation 7022-2 in FIG. 7D); detecting a release of the first contactand returning the display area 7007 to the original magnification level(e.g., 100%, as illustrated in FIG. 7E) in accordance with someembodiments. The user interfaces in these figures are used to illustratethe processes described below, including the processes described inreference to FIGS. 11A-11C.

FIGS. 7F-7G illustrate exemplary user interfaces for simultaneouslydisplaying a plurality of user interface objects (e.g., 7002, 7005 and7006 in FIGS. 7F-7G) in a display area 7007; detecting a second contact(e.g., 7026 in FIG. 7F) with a first handle activation region (e.g.,7016 in FIG. 7F) that corresponds to a first handle (e.g., 7010 in FIG.7F), detecting movement of the second contact (e.g., movement 7028 ofthe contact 7026 from a first contact location 7026-1 in FIG. 7F to asecond contact location 7026-2 in FIG. 7G) from the first locationbefore a predefined amount of time has elapsed, and maintaining themagnification level of the display area 7007 (e.g., 100%, as illustratedin FIGS. 7F-7G) while performing these operations, in accordance withsome embodiments. The user interfaces in these figures are used toillustrate the processes described below, including the processesdescribed in reference to FIGS. 11A-11C.

FIGS. 8A-8D are flow diagrams illustrating a method 800 of modifyinghandle activation regions for resizing handles of a user interfaceobject in accordance with some embodiments. The method 800 is performedat a computing device (e.g., device 300, FIG. 3, or portablemultifunction device 100, FIG. 1) with a display and a touch-sensitivesurface. In some embodiments, the display is a touch screen display andthe touch-sensitive surface is on the display. In some embodiments, thedisplay is separate from the touch-sensitive surface. Some operations inmethod 800 may be combined and/or the order of some operations may bechanged.

As described below, the method 800 provides an intuitive way tomanipulate user interface objects using resizing handles for the userinterface object. The method reduces the cognitive burden on a user whenmanipulating user interface objects using resizing handles for the userinterface object by modifying the handle activation regions for theresizing handles to intuitive locations by modifying activation regionsassociated with the resizing handles, thereby creating a more efficienthuman-machine interface. For battery-operated computing devices,enabling a user to manipulate user interface objects using resizinghandles for the user interface object faster and more efficientlyconserves power and increases the time between battery charges.

The device simultaneously displays (802) on the display: a plurality ofuser interface objects (804) (e.g., 5002, 5004, 5005 and 5006 on touchscreen display 112 in FIGS. 5A-5J), along with a currently selected userinterface object (e.g., 5002-a in FIG. 5B) and a plurality of resizinghandles (e.g., 5010, 5012, 5014, 5016, 5018, 5020, 5022, 5024 in FIGS.5B-5D). At least some of the user interface objects are configured to beresizable (e.g., user interface object 5002-a is resized in response touser inputs, as shown in FIGS. 5B-5D and user interface object 5004-a isresized in response to user inputs, as shown in FIGS. 5E-5G).

While displaying the user interface objects (e.g., 5002, 5004, 5005, and5006), the device simultaneously displays (806) the currently selecteduser interface object (e.g., 5002-a in FIG. 5B). In some embodiments,the currently selected user interface object includes (808) an objectactivation region (e.g., 5008-a in FIGS. 5A-5B, 5008-b in FIGS. 5C and5008- c in FIG. 5C) that includes the center of the currently selecteduser interface object (e.g., 5002-a in FIG. 5B). This object activationregion 5008 is for selecting and moving the user interface object 5002,rather than resizing the user interface object. For example, in FIG. 5A,the resizable user interface object 5002-a is selected in response to afinger tap gesture (e.g., contact 5009 in FIG. 5A) by a user input on alocation on a touch-sensitive surface (e.g., touch screen display 112 inFIG. 5A) that corresponds to the object (e.g., 5002-a in FIG. 5A). Insome embodiments, the object activation region (e.g., region 5008 inFIGS. 5A-5D) is (810) entirely within a perimeter of the currentlyselected user interface object (e.g., user interface object 5002 inFIGS. 5B-5D). For example, in FIGS. 5B-5D, even though the currentlyselected user interface object 5002 is resized in accordance withvarious user inputs, the object activation region 5008 remains entirelywithin the boundaries of the currently selected user interface object5002. An advantage of this maintaining the object activation regionentirely within the boundaries of the user interface object is that thecenter of the user interface object is preserved for user interfaceobject “select” and “move” operations while the edges of the userinterface object are preserved for user interface object “resize”operations.

While displaying the user interface objects including the currentlyselected user interface object, the device simultaneously displays (812)a plurality of resizing handles (e.g., 5010, 5012, 5014, 5016, 5018,5020, 5022, 5024 in FIGS. 5B-5D) for the currently selected userinterface object (e.g., 5002-a in FIG. 5A). In some embodiments, theresizing handles are only displayed for selected user interface objects.For example, before a user interface object is selected (e.g., 5002-a inFIG. 5A) no resizing handles are displayed. However, after the userinterface object is selected (e.g., 5002-a in FIG. 5B), resizing handles(e.g., 5010, 5012, 5014, 5016, 5018, 5020, 5022, 5024 in FIG. 5B) aredisplayed. Each respective resizing handle has (814) a correspondinghandle activation region (e.g., handle 5010 has handle activation region5026, handle 5012 has handle activation region 5028, handle 5014 hashandle activation region 5030, handle 5016 has handle activation region5032, handle 5018 has handle activation region 5034, handle 5020 hashandle activation region 5036, handle 5022 has handle activation region5038, and handle 5024 has handle activation region 5040 in FIGS. 5B-5D).It should be understood that while the handle activation regions areshown in FIG. 5B, typically the handle activation regions will be hiddenhit regions, and will not be displayed to the user. For this reason, inaccordance with some embodiments, it is useful to modify the handleactivation regions, as described in greater detail below, so that thehandle activation regions are intuitively located (e.g., located wherethe user is likely to place a contact the display when attempting toactivate a particular handle) and can easily activated by a user evenwhen the handle activation regions are not displayed to the user.

In some embodiments, each handle activation region has a defaultposition relative to the respective resizing handle, a default size, anda default shape. For example, in FIG. 5B, each of the handle activationregions is shown centered over the corresponding resizing handle withwhich it is associated (e.g., the centroid of activation region 5026 islocated directly over the associated resizing handle 5010). In someembodiments, as described in greater detail below with reference toFIGS. 5E-5G, the currently selected user interface object includes abounding box and the resizing handles are on the bounding box.

In some embodiments, each of the handle activation regions is (816)partially outside a perimeter of the currently selected user interfaceobject and partially inside the perimeter of the currently selected userinterface object, but covers only a subregion (e.g., a portion less thanthe whole) of the interior of the currently selected user interfaceobject. For example, in FIGS. 5B-5D, for one of the handle activationregions 5026, the unshaded portion of the handle activation region 5026is outside of the perimeter of the currently selected user interfaceobject 5002, while the shaded portion of the handle activation region5026 is inside the perimeter of the currently selected user interfaceobject 5002. In some embodiments, a perimeter of the currently selecteduser interface object intersects (818) with a perimeter of eachrespective handle activation regions at exactly two points. For example,in FIGS. 5B-5D, each of the handle activation regions 5026, 5028, 5030,5032, 5034, 5036, 5038, 5040 is a square that is located along theperimeter of the user interface object, and the perimeter of the userinterface object passes through two distinct sides of each hit region.An advantage of the having multiple handle activation regions that areeach partially overlapping the perimeter of a user interface object isthat the handle activation region can each include a distinct resizinghandle of the user interface object, thereby providing a margin of errorin all directions from the resizing handle while still enabling a userto separately manipulate each resizing handle.

The device detects (820) a first input on or in a first handleactivation region for a first resizing handle in the plurality ofresizing handles. In some embodiments, the display is (822) a touchscreen display (e.g., 112 in FIGS. 5A-5J) and the first input is agesture on the touch screen display. In some embodiments, the gesture is(824) a finger gesture. For example, in FIGS. 5B-5C a finger contact5042-1 on a handle activation region 5034 in FIG. 5B that corresponds toa resizing handle 5018 of the currently selected user interface object5002-a on a touch screen display 112 and movement 5044 of the fingercontact (e.g., from a first position 5042-1 in FIG. 5B to a secondposition 5042-2 in FIG. 5C) across the touch screen display 112. In someembodiments, the gesture is (826) a stylus gesture.

In accordance with some embodiments, steps 830-854 are performed inresponse (828) to detecting the first input (e.g., contact 5042 andsubsequent movement 5044 of the contact across the touch screen display112 in FIG. 5B). The device resizes (830) the currently selected userinterface object (e.g., the device changes the size and/or shape of theuser interface object). For example, in FIG. 5C, the user interfaceobject 5002 has been resized from a first size and shape (e.g., 5002-ain FIG. 5B) to a second size and shape (e.g., 5002-b in FIG. 5C).

In some embodiments, prior to resizing the currently selected userinterface object (832): the currently selected user interface objectincludes an object activation region (e.g., 5008-a in FIG. 5B) with acentroid that is located in a predefined location relative to the centerof the currently selected user interface object (e.g., 5002-a in FIG.5B). In some embodiments, the user interface object (e.g., 5002-a inFIG. 5B) also includes a centroid of a respective default handleactivation region (e.g., activation region 5026 in FIG. 5B) located atthe center of a corresponding resizing handle (e.g., resizing handle5010 in FIG. 5B). In these embodiment, after resizing the currentlyselected user interface object (834) (e.g., from a first size and shape5002-a in FIG. 5B to a second size and shape 5002-b in FIG. 5C), thecentroid of the object activation region is maintained at the predefinedlocation relative to the center of the currently selected user interfaceobject, and the centroid of the respective default handle activationregion is located away from the center of the corresponding resizinghandle. For example, in FIG. 5C, the centroid of the object activationregion 5008-b is still at the center of the currently selected userinterface object 5002, while handle activation region 5026 is no longercentered over resizing handle 5010. In other words, when resizing theobject, the centroid of the object activation region remains at thecenter of the object; but handle activation regions that become “tooclose” to the center are moved or resized and thus the centroids ofthese handle activation regions are no longer positioned over theirrespective resizing handles. An advantage of this modification of theposition of the activation regions relative to their default locationsis that the size of the handle activation regions is maintained, as muchas possible, while avoiding overlap with the object activation region,so as to facilitate user selection of the resizing handles and/or theobject (via the object activation region).

For at least one resizing handle (e.g., 5010 in FIGS. 5B-5C) in theplurality of resizing handles, the device modifies (836) a correspondinghandle activation region (e.g., 5026 in FIGS. 5B-5C) by changing theposition of the handle activation region relative to the resizing handlefrom the default position (e.g., 5026 in FIG. 5B) to a modified position(e.g., 5026 in FIG. 5C). In some embodiments, the currently selecteduser interface object has a center (838), and modifying a correspondinghandle activation region by changing the position of the handleactivation region relative to the resizing handle from the defaultposition to a modified position comprises: when the currently selecteduser interface object (e.g., 5002 in FIGS. 5B-5C) is resized to asmaller size, the device moves the position of the handle activationregion (e.g., 5026 in FIGS. 5B-5C) towards the center of the currentlyselected user interface object (e.g., 5002 in FIGS. 5B-5C) by an amountthat is less than movement of the position of the corresponding resizinghandle (e.g., 5010 in FIGS. 5B-5C) towards the center of the currentlyselected user interface object. In other words, from the frame ofreference of the perimeter of the currently selected user interfaceobject 5002, these movements move one or more handle activation regionsoutward from their respective resizing handles along the perimeter ofthe selected object (e.g., as shown in FIGS. 5B-5C), thereby leavingmore area within the perimeter of the currently selected object (e.g., agreater percentage of the total internal area of the user interfaceobject) for an object activation region (e.g., 5008 in FIGS. 5B-5C) forreceiving inputs that are meant to move the selected object, rather thanresize the selected object.

In some embodiments, one or more additional inputs are detected whichfurther resize or reshape the currently selected user interface objectand the handle activation regions are adjusted accordingly. As oneexample, the additional input is associated with a command to resize theuser interface object to an even smaller size. For example, contact5046-1 is detected at a first position on the touch screen display at apoint that corresponds to a respective handle activation region 5038 fora respective resizing handle 5022 in FIG. 5C, and the device detectssubsequent movement 5047 of the contact to a second position 5046-2 onthe touch screen display. In response to the input, object is resized toa smaller size (e.g., from 5002-b in FIG. 5C to 5002- c in FIG. 5D), andfor at least one resizing handle (e.g., 5010 in FIGS. 5C-5D) in theplurality of resizing handles, the device modifies a correspondinghandle activation region (e.g., 5026 in FIGS. 5C-5D) by changing theposition of the handle activation region relative to the resizing handlefrom the modified position (e.g., 5026 in FIG. 5C) to a further modifiedposition (e.g., 5026 in FIG. 5D). As another example, the additionalinput is associated with a command to resize the user interface objectto a larger size (e.g., back to the original size), and the handleactivation regions are returned to their default positions (e.g., asshown in FIG. 5B).

It should be understood that in some embodiments the device modifies acorresponding handle activation region by simultaneously changing one ormore of the position relative to the handle, the size of the handleactivation region (as described in greater detail below with referenceto FIGS. 5E-5G), and the shape of the handle activation region (e.g., asdescribed in greater detail below with reference to FIGS. 5H-5J).

In some embodiments, while one user interface object is currentlyselected (e.g., 5002 in FIG. 5D) the device detects an input (e.g., tapgesture 5048 in FIG. 5D) on a different user interface object (e.g.,5004 in FIG. 5D). In response to the input, the different user interfaceobject (e.g., 5004 in FIG. 5D) becomes the currently selected userinterface object. It should be understood that multiple user interfaceobjects could be selected simultaneously. In some embodiments, ifmultiple user interface objects are simultaneously selected (e.g., byholding down a modifier key and tapping on several currently displayeduser interface objects) all of the selected user interface objects aretreated as a single “currently selected user interface object” with abounding box, and all of the simultaneously selected user interfaceobjects are treated as a single currently selected user interface objectwith a bounding box, as described in greater detail below with referenceto FIGS. 5E-5G.

In some embodiments, as shown in FIGS. 5E-5G, the currently selecteduser interface object 5004 includes a bounding box (e.g., 5049 in FIGS.5E-5G) with resizing handles (e.g., 5050, 5052, 5054, 5056, 5058, 5060,5062 and 5064 in FIGS. 5E-5G) located at the corners and in the middleof the sides of the bounding box 5049. In some embodiments, the handleseach have a default handle activation region (e.g., handle 5050 hasactivation region 5066, handle 5052 has activation region 5068, handle5054 has activation region 5070, handle 5056 has activation region 5072,handle 5058 has activation region 5074, handle 5060 has activationregion 5076, handle 5062 has activation region 5078 and handle 5064 hasactivation region 5080 in FIGS. 5E-5G) that is centered over the handle.Typically a bounding box will be displayed when the user interfaceobject has an irregular shape (e.g., in FIG. 5E the currently selecteduser interface object 5004-a is star shaped, and thus a bounding box5049-a is displayed), or multiple user interface objects aresimultaneously selected, as discussed in greater detail above. Theresizing handles (e.g., 5050, 5052, 5054, 5056, 5058, 5060, 5062 and5064 in FIGS. 5E-5G) are shown on the display and are visible to users,while the handle activation regions (e.g., 5066, 5068, 5070, 5072, 5074,5076, 5078 and 5080 in FIGS. 5E-5G) are typically not displayed to theuser. In other words, the handle activation regions are typically hiddenhit regions surrounding the resizing handles.

Similar to the method described above with reference to FIGS. 5B-5D, thedevice detects (820) a first input on or in a first handle activationregion for a first resizing handle in the plurality of resizing handles.In some embodiments, the display is (822) a touch screen display (e.g.,112 in FIGS. 5E-5G) and the first input is a gesture on the touch screendisplay. In some embodiments, the gesture is (824) a finger gesture. Forexample, in FIGS. 5E-5F a finger contact 5082-1 on a handle activationregion 5074 in FIG. 5E that corresponds to a resizing handle 5058 of thecurrently selected user interface object 5004-a on the touch screendisplay 112 and movement 5084 of the finger contact (e.g., from a firstposition 5082-1 in FIG. 5E to a second position 5082-2 in FIG. 5F)across the touch screen display 112. In some embodiments, the gesture is(826) a stylus gesture.

In accordance with some embodiments, steps 830-854 are performed inresponse (828) to detecting the first input. The device resizes (830)the currently selected user interface object (e.g., the device changesthe size and/or shape of the user interface object). For example, inFIG. 5F, the user interface object 5004 has been resized from a firstsize and shape 5004-a to a second size and shape 5004-b. Similarly, inFIG. 5F, the bounding box 5049 for the user interface object 5004 hasalso been resized from a first size and shape (e.g., 5049-a in FIG. 5E)to a second size and shape (e.g., 5049-b in FIG. 5F). Additionally, inFIG. 5F, the user interface object 5004 has also been resized from afirst size and shape (e.g., 5004-a in FIG. 5E) to a second size andshape (e.g., 5004-b in FIG. 5F).

In some embodiments, in response to detecting the first input (e.g.,contact 5082 and movement 5084 of the contact, as illustrated in FIG.5E): for at least one resizing handle in the plurality of resizinghandles, the device modifies a corresponding handle activation region bychanging the size (840) of the handle activation region from the defaultsize (e.g., the size of handle activation region 5074 in FIG. 5E) to amodified size (e.g., the size of handle activation region 5074 in FIG.5F). In these embodiments, the default size is a predefined size (842)(e.g., the size defined is based on the average size of a fingercontact, or based on a percentage of the size of the resizing handle).Additionally, in these embodiments, the modified size is different fromthe default size; and the modified size is determined such that when thecorresponding handle activation region is modified, the correspondinghandle activation region (e.g., 5074 in FIG. 5F) includes at least someof the corresponding resizing handle (e.g., 5058 in FIG. 5F) withoutoverlapping with any of the other handle activation regions. In otherwords, when a currently selected user interface object is resized to asmaller size, the handle activation regions of the currently selecteduser interface object (e.g., 5004 in FIGS. 5E-5F) shrink to avoidoverlapping with each other. For example, if handle activation regions5070 and 5072 in FIG. 5E were moved towards each other without beingresized (e.g., if the activation regions were not resized as shown inFIG. 5F), then they would overlap with each other. However, in FIG. 5F,the handle activation regions (e.g., 5070 and 5072) have been resized soas to avoid overlapping. In some embodiments, the modified size is (844)at least a minimum predefined size (e.g., 30 pixels by 30 pixels 50×50pixels, or any reasonable size).

In some embodiments, one or more additional inputs are detected whichfurther resize or reshape the currently selected user interface objectand the handle activation regions are adjusted accordingly. As oneexample, the additional input is associated with a command to resize theuser interface object to an even smaller size (e.g., contact 5086 at afirst position 5086-1 on the touch screen display that corresponds to arespective handle activation region 5078 for a respective resizinghandle 5062 in FIG. 5F, and subsequent movement 5088 of the contact to asecond position 5086-2 on the touch screen display). In response to theinput, the user interface object 5004 is resized to a smaller size(e.g., from 5004-b in FIG. 5F to 5004- c in FIG. 5G), and for at leastone resizing handle (e.g., 5058 in FIGS. 5F-5G) in the plurality ofresizing handles, the device modifies a corresponding handle activationregion (e.g., 5074 in FIGS. 5F-5G) by changing the size (e.g., the sizeof handle activation region 5074 in FIG. 5F) of the handle activationregion to a further modified size (e.g., 5074 in FIG. 5G). As anotherexample, the additional input is associated with a command to resize theuser interface object to a larger size (e.g., back to the originalsize), and the handle activation regions are returned to their defaultsizes (e.g., as shown in FIG. 5E).

It should be understood that, in some embodiments, the handle activationregions are simultaneously resized as illustrated in FIGS. 5E-5G andmoved relative to their respective resizing handles (e.g., as describedin greater detail above with reference to FIGS. 5B-5D), and/or reshaped(e.g., as described in greater detail below with reference to FIGS.5H-5I).

In some embodiments, while one user interface object is currentlyselected (e.g., 5004-c in FIG. 5G) the device detects an input for thecreation of a new user interface object. In response to the input, thenew user interface object (e.g., 5089 in FIG. 5H) is created. In someembodiments, the new user interface object automatically becomes thecurrently selected user interface object.

In some embodiments, as shown in FIGS. 5H-5J, the currently selecteduser interface object 5089 includes resizing handles (e.g., 5090, 5092,5094, 5096, 5098, 5100, 5102 and 5104 in FIGS. 5H-5J) that are locatedat the corners and in the middle of the sides of the bounding box 5089.In some embodiments the resizing handles have default handle activationregions (e.g., handle 5090 has activation region 5106, handle 5092 hasactivation region 5108, handle 5094 has activation region 5110, handle5096 has activation region 5112, handle 5098 has activation region 5114,handle 5100 has activation region 5116, handle 5102 has activationregion 5118 and handle 5104 has activation region 5120 in FIGS. 5H-5J)that initially are squares that are centered over each of the resizinghandles on perimeter of the user interface object 5089, as illustratedin FIG. 5H. The resizing handles (e.g., 5090, 5092, 5094, 5096, 5098,5100, 5102 and 5104 in FIGS. 5H-5J) are shown on the display and arevisible to users, while the handle activation regions (e.g., 5106, 5108,5110, 5112, 5114, 5116, 5118 and 5120 in FIGS. 5H-5J) are typically notdisplayed to the user. In other words, the handle activation regions aretypically hidden hit regions surrounding the resizing handles.

Similar to the method described above with reference to FIGS. 5B-5D, thedevice detects (820) a first input on or in a first handle activationregion for a first resizing handle in the plurality of resizing handles.In some embodiments, the display is (822) a touch screen display and thefirst input is a gesture on the touch screen display (e.g., 112 in FIGS.5H-5J). In some embodiments, the gesture is (824) a finger gesture. Forexample, in FIGS. 5H-5I the device detects a finger contact 5122-1 on ahandle activation region 5114 in FIG. 5H that corresponds to a resizinghandle 5098 of the currently selected user interface object 5098-a on atouch screen display 112. Subsequently the device detects movement 5124of the finger contact (e.g., from a first position 5122-1 in FIG. 5H toa second position 5122-2 in FIG. 5I) across the touch screen display112. In some embodiments, the gesture is (826) a stylus gesture.

In accordance with some embodiments, steps 830-854 are performed inresponse (828) to detecting the first input (e.g., contact 5122 andmovement 5124 of the contact, as illustrated in FIGS. 5H-5I). The deviceresizes (830) the currently selected user interface object (e.g., thedevice changes the size and/or shape of the user interface object). Forexample, in FIG. 5I, the user interface object 5089 has been resizedfrom a first size and shape (e.g., 5089-a in FIG. 5H) to a second sizeand shape (e.g., 5089-b in FIG. 5I).

In some embodiments, for at least one resizing handle (e.g., 5094 inFIGS. 5H-5I) in the plurality of resizing handles, the device modifies acorresponding handle activation region (e.g., 5110 in FIGS. 5H-5I) bychanging the shape (846) of the handle activation region from thedefault shape (e.g., a square 5110 in FIG. 5H) to a modified shape(e.g., a truncated pie wedge 5110 in FIG. 5I). In some embodiments, thecorresponding handle activation region has (848) an inner boundary(e.g., 5126-a in FIG. 5H) that is proximate to the center of thecurrently selected user interface object and an outer boundary (e.g.,5128-a in FIG. 5H) that is remote from the center of the currentlyselected user interface object. In some embodiments, for the defaultshape (e.g., a square 5110 in FIG. 5H), the inner boundary (e.g., 5126-ain FIG. 5H) is equal (or substantially equal) in length to the outerboundary (e.g., 5128-a in FIG. 5H). For example, in FIG. 5H, the side5126-a of a rectangular handle activation region 5110 that is fullyinside of the user interface object is equal in size to the side 5128-aof the rectangular handle activation region 5110 that is fully outsideof the user interface object.

In contrast, for the modified shape (e.g., the shape of handleactivation region 5110 in FIG. 5I), the inner boundary (e.g., 5126-b inFIG. 5I) is shorter than the outer boundary (e.g., 5128-b in FIG. 5I).Continuing the example from above when the default shape of a hit region(e.g., 5110 in FIG. 5H) is changed to a modified shape of a handleactivation region (e.g., 5110 in FIG. 5I), a side (e.g., 5126-b in FIG.5I) of the handle activation region (e.g., 5110 in FIG. 5I) that isinside the user interface object (e.g., 5126-b in FIG. 5I) is shorterthan a side (e.g., 5128-b in FIG. 5I) of the handle activation region(e.g., 5110 in FIG. 5I) that is outside of the user interface object. Insome embodiments, the default shape of the corresponding handleactivation region is (850) rectangular and the modified shape of thecorresponding handle activation region is a truncated pie wedge. Forexample, in FIG. 5I, handle activation region 5110 has changed shapefrom a rectangular shape (e.g., 5110 in FIG. 5H) to a truncated piewedge shape (e.g., 5110 in FIG. 5I).

In some embodiments, one or more additional inputs are detected whichfurther resize or reshape the currently selected user interface objectand the handle activation regions are adjusted accordingly. As oneexample, the additional input is associated with a command to resize theuser interface object to an even smaller size (e.g., contact 5130 at afirst position 5130-1 on the touch screen display 112 at a point thatcorresponds to a respective handle activation region 5118 for arespective resizing handle 5102 in FIG. 5I, and subsequent movement 5132of the contact to a second position 5130-2 on the touch screen display112 in FIG. 5J). In response to the input, the user interface object5089 is resized to a smaller size (e.g., from 5089-b in FIG. 5I to 5089-c in FIG. 5J), and for at least one resizing handle (e.g., 5094 in FIGS.5I-5J) in the plurality of resizing handles, the device modifies acorresponding handle activation region (e.g., 5110 in FIGS. 5I-5J) bychanging the shape (e.g., the shape of handle activation region 5110 inFIG. 5I) of the handle activation region to a further modified shape(e.g., the shape of handle activation region 5110 in FIG. 5J). Asanother example, the additional input is associated with a command toresize the user interface object to a larger size (e.g., back to theoriginal size), and the handle activation regions are returned to theirdefault sizes (e.g., as shown in FIG. 5H).

It should be understood that, in some embodiments, the handle activationregions are simultaneously reshaped as illustrated in FIGS. 5H-5J and/ormoved relative to their respective resizing handles (e.g., as describedin greater detail above with reference to FIGS. 5B-5D), and/or resized(e.g., as described in greater detail above with reference to FIGS.5E-5G).

In some embodiments, in response to detecting the first input (e.g.,contact 5122-1 and subsequent movement 5124 of the contact in FIG. 5H toa new contact location 5122-2 in FIG. 5I), the device modifies (852)multiple handle activation regions that correspond to multiple resizinghandles in the plurality of resizing handles by changing the position ofa respective handle activation region relative to a respective resizinghandle from a respective default position to a respective modifiedposition. In some embodiments, only a subset of the handle activationregions of the user interface object are modified, while other hitregions of the user interface object remain unmodified. For example,when the user interface object is resized as shown in FIGS. 5H and 5I,handle activation regions 5108, 8110, 5112, 5116, 5118 and 5120 are allmodified (e.g., in FIG. 5H handle activation regions 5108, 5110, 5112,5116, 5118 and 5120 are all squares, while in FIG. 5I, after thecurrently selected user interface object 5089 is resized, handleactivation regions 5108, 8110, 5112, 5116, 5118 and 5120 are reshapedinto truncated pie wedges). In contrast, in this example, some of thehandle activation regions are not modified (e.g., in FIG. 5H handleactivation regions 5106 and 5114 are squares, and are maintained as besquares in FIG. 5I, instead of being reshaped).

In some embodiments, in response to detecting the first input (e.g.,contact 5042-1 and subsequent movement 5044 of the contact in FIG. 5B toa new contact location 5042-2 in FIG. 5C), the device modifies (854)each and every handle activation region that corresponds to a resizinghandle in the plurality of resizing handles by changing the position ofa respective handle activation region relative to a respective resizinghandle from a respective default position to a respective modifiedposition. For example, when the user interface object is resized asshown in FIG. 5B and FIG. 5C, each of the handle activation regions5026, 5028, 5030, 5032, 5034, 5036, 5038, 5040 associated with handlesof the user interface object 5002-a in FIG. 5B is centered around itsrespective resizing handle. However, after the resizing command, eachrespective handle activation region 5026, 5028, 5030, 5032, 5034, 5036,5038, 5040 associated with handles of the user interface object 5002-bin FIG. 5C is no longer centered around its respective resizing handle.Thus, in this example, all of the handle activation regions associatedwith resizing handles of user interface object 5002 are modified.

FIGS. 9A-9D are flow diagrams illustrating a method 900 of selecting analternative candidate action to perform in accordance with someembodiments. The method 900 is performed at a computing device (e.g.,device 300, FIG. 3, or portable multifunction device 100, FIG. 1) with adisplay and a touch-sensitive surface. In some embodiments, the displayis a touch screen display and the touch-sensitive surface is on thedisplay. In some embodiments, the display is separate from thetouch-sensitive surface. Some operations in method 900 may be combinedand/or the order of some operations may be changed.

As described below, the method 900 provides an intuitive way to select acandidate action to perform based on previously canceled candidateactions. The method reduces the cognitive burden on a user bydynamically selecting a likely candidate action based on candidateactions that have been cancelled in the past, thereby creating a moreefficient human-machine interface. For battery-operated computingdevices, enabling a user to request performance of the desired candidateaction faster and more efficiently conserves power and increases thetime between battery charges.

The device simultaneously displays (902) a plurality ofuser-repositionable user interface objects (e.g., 6002, 6005, 6006 inFIGS. 6A-6P), wherein each user interface object includes one or moreactivation regions (e.g., object activation region 6008 and handleactivation regions 6010, 6012, 6014, 6016, 6018, 6020, 6020, 6022, 6024,6026, 6028, 6030, 6032, 6034, 6036 and 6038 in FIGS. 6A-6D). In someembodiments, a user interface object is user-repositionable if it ismoveable, relative to other displayed objects, in response to userinputs. For example, when the device detects a tap gesture (e.g., acontact) on an object activation region (e.g., 6008 in FIG. 6A) of auser-repositionable user interface object and a drag gesture in arespective direction, the repositionable user interface object moves inthe respective direction, as described in greater detail below withreference to FIGS. 6E-6P. Conversely, the keys on a soft keyboard arenot user-repositionable user interface objects, even if the keyboardlayout changes from a first predefined layout (e.g., QWERTY) to a secondpredefined layout (e.g., DVORAK) in response to a user input.

The device receives (904) a first input (e.g., tap and hold gesture 6040in FIG. 6B) from the user at a position on the touch screen thatcorresponds to at least one of the activation regions (e.g., activationregion 6020 in FIG. 6B). Based at least in part on the first input, thedevice determines (906) a first plurality of candidate actions. Eachcandidate action in the first plurality of candidate actions isassociated with one of the user interface objects and the candidateactions are ordered in accordance with a first ordering. In someembodiments, the objects are non-overlapping, or at least the portionsof the user interface objects proximate to the first input arenon-overlapping. For example, the first plurality of candidate actionsincludes, in order: (1) select a resize handle associated with a handleactivation region 6020 for the square, (2) select a resize handleassociated with a handle activation region 6026 for the triangle, (3)select an object associated with object activation region 6008 for thesquare, and (4) select resize handle associated with a handle activationregion 6038 for the circle.

The device performs (908) a first candidate action (e.g., selectingresize handle 6052 associated with a handle activation region 6020 forthe square in FIG. 6B) of the first plurality of candidate actions asdetermined in accordance with the first ordering. In some embodiments,the input includes a position on the display (e.g., the centroid of atap and hold gesture 6040 on a touch screen display 112), and theordering of the candidate actions is based on the distance of one ormore predefined portions of the user interface objects from the positionof the input. For example, as illustrated in FIG. 6B, the handleactivation region 6020 for the square is closest to the centroid of thetap and hold gesture 6040, while the handle activation region 6026 forthe triangle is second closest to the centroid of the tap and holdgesture 6040, the object activation region 6008 for the square is thirdclosest to the centroid of the tap and hold gesture 6040, and the handleactivation region 6038 is fourth closest to the centroid of the tap andhold gesture 6040. In some embodiments, the ordering includes a weightthat is based on properties of the input other than the position of theinput (e.g., the order of the layers for each of the user interfaceobjects associated with the candidate actions, whether the userinterface object associated with a candidate action is currentlyselected, whether the user interface object associated with a candidateaction has recently been used, a number of sides for a shape of the userinterface object associated with a candidate action, a transparencyvalue of the user interface object associated with a candidate actionand/or whether the candidate action was previously canceled by the user,etc.).

In some embodiments, the first candidate action is selected (910) fromthe set consisting of: moving a user interface object, resizing a userinterface object, rotating a user interface object, and formatting auser interface object. In other words in some embodiments, the firstcandidate action is selected from the set consisting of actions otherthan merely selecting a user interface object (or resizing handle of auser interface object), as described in greater detail below withreference to FIGS. 6E-6P.

In some embodiments, while performing the first candidate action, thedevice displays (912) a visual confirmation that the first candidateaction is being performed. In some embodiments, the visual confirmationincludes one or more of: highlighting a perimeter of the user interfaceobject, displaying a resizing handle (e.g., resizing handles 6042, 6044,6046, 6048, 6050, 6052, 6054, 6056 and/or 6056 in FIG. 6B) on the userinterface object, highlighting a center of the user interface object,displaying a pop-up notification that is indicative of the firstcandidate action (e.g., selecting a resizing handle 6052 associated withthe handle activation region 6020 for a corner of the square). In someembodiments, a visual confirmation is displayed whenever any candidateaction is performed. For example, when the first candidate action is theselection of an activation region associated with a first interfaceobject (e.g., a first resizing handle for resizing the first userinterface object or a center of the first user interface object), aplurality of resizing handles (e.g., 6042, 6044, 6046, 6048, 6050, 6052,6054, 6056 and/or 6056 in FIG. 6B) are displayed on a perimeter of thefirst user interface object (e.g., 6002 in FIG. 6B). Similarly, when thefirst candidate action is the selection (e.g., a tap and hold gesture6058 in FIG. 6C) of a second activation region (e.g., 6026 in FIG. 6C)associated with a second user interface object (e.g., 6005 in FIG. 6C) asecond resizing handle (e.g., 6060, 6062 and/or 6064 in FIG. 6C) isdisplayed on the second user interface object.

After performing the first candidate action, the device receives (914) asecond input (e.g., tap gesture 6057 in FIG. 6B) that corresponds to arequest to undo or cancel the first candidate action. In someembodiments, the second input corresponds to an explicit undo command(e.g., a keyboard shortcut such as: command+z or ctrl+z, or selecting“undo” from an “edit” drop down menu). In some embodiments, the secondinput corresponds to an implicit undo command. One example of animplicit undo command is an input that is outside of the currentlyselected user interface object (e.g., tap gesture 6057 in FIG. 6B),which results in the device deselecting the object. In some embodiments,the second input corresponds to a failure of the device to detect aconfirmation of the input. For example, for selection of a resize handleby a tap and hold gesture, a failure to confirm the input includes afailure to detect any movement of the contact prior to a subsequentliftoff of the contact, or failure to detect any movement of the contactwithin a predetermined period of time after the initial touchdown of thecontact. In response to the second input (e.g., tap gesture 6066 in FIG.6C), the device undoes (916) or cancels the first candidate action(e.g., by returning to a state where all of the user interface objectsare unselected as illustrated in FIG. 6A).

The device receives (918) a third input (e.g., tap and hold gesture 6058in FIG. 6C) within a predefined time period (e.g., 10 seconds or less)that is a repetition of the first input, or is substantially the same asthe first input. In some embodiments, instead of receiving the thirdinput within a predefined period of time, the device receives the thirdinput before some other predefined event has occurred (e.g., before thecurrent selection changes, or before a currently displayed subset ofcontent is replaced with a different displayed subset of content eitherby scrolling through the displayed content or navigating to a differentsubset of content such as a next page or a next slide). In accordancewith some embodiments, a third input is substantially the same as thefirst input if the same user interface object has been moved by thefirst input and the third input or if the third input is located atapproximately the same location as the first input. The devicedetermines, (920) based at least in part on the third input (e.g.,contact 6058 in FIG. 6C), a second plurality of candidate actionsassociated with one or more of the plurality of user interface objects.The second plurality of candidate actions are ordered in accordance witha second ordering that is different from the first ordering. A secondcandidate action in the second plurality of candidate actions isdistinct from the first candidate action and has a higher position thanthe first candidate action in the second ordering. For example, for thesituation illustrated in FIG. 6C, in some embodiments the secondplurality of candidate actions includes, in order: (1) select a resizehandle associated with a handle activation region 6026 for the triangle,(2) select an object associated with object activation region 6008 forthe square, (3) select a resize handle associated with a handleactivation region 6038 for the circle, and (4) select a resize handleassociated with a handle activation region 6020 for the square.

It should be noted that, in this embodiment, the candidate action thatwas previously the highest candidate action in the first plurality ofcandidate actions is now the lowest candidate action in the secondplurality of candidate actions. This is because the device previouslyreceived an input to cancel the first candidate action, and thus it isunlikely that the user wishes to perform that candidate action. While,in the present example, the candidate action “select resize handleassociated with a handle activation region 6020 for the square” isincluded in both the first plurality of candidate actions and the secondplurality of candidate actions, it should be understood that, in anotherembodiment, this candidate action (which was previously canceled) couldbe removed from the list entirely. It should be understood that if thefirst action is removed from the second plurality of candidate actions,the first candidate action effectively is assigned the lowest positionin the second plurality of candidate actions.

The device performs (922) the second candidate action (e.g., selectresize handle 6060 in FIG. 6C associated with a handle activation region6026 for the triangle). In other words, even if the exact same input isdetected twice in a row, the device will perform a different action. Anadvantage of adjusting the plurality of candidate actions afterreceiving a second input that corresponds to a request to undo aprevious candidate action is that it improves the likelihood that whenthe device dynamically performs the second candidate action that is thecandidate action that the user desires to perform. A similar advantageis provided by the reordering of candidate actions discussed in greaterdetail below with reference to other embodiments.

In some embodiments, the second candidate action (924) is selected fromthe set consisting of moving a user interface object, resizing a userinterface object, rotating a user interface object, and formatting auser interface object. In other words in some embodiments, the secondcandidate action is selected from the set consisting of actions otherthan merely selecting a user interface object (or resizing handle of auser interface object), as described in greater detail below withreference to FIGS. 6E-6P. It should be understood that, in someembodiments, the first candidate action and the second candidate actionare both selected (926) from the set consisting of moving a userinterface object, resizing a user interface object, rotating a userinterface object, and formatting a user interface object. In other wordsin some embodiments, both the first candidate action and the secondcandidate action are selected from the set consisting of actions otherthan merely selecting a user interface object (or resizing handle of auser interface object), as described in greater detail below withreference to FIGS. 6E-6P.

In some embodiments, the first candidate action is (928) selecting afirst resizing handle (e.g., resizing handle 6052 for the corner of thesquare in FIG. 6B) that corresponds to the first activation region(e.g., 6020 in FIG. 6B). In these embodiments, the second candidateaction is selecting a second resizing handle (e.g., resizing handle 6060for the corner of the triangle in FIG. 6C) that corresponds to a secondactivation region (e.g., 6026 in FIG. 6C). In these embodiments, atleast a portion of the first activation region overlaps at least aportion of the second activation region (e.g., the shaded portion ofactivation region 6020 and activation region 6026 in FIG. 6C). In someembodiments, the first input (e.g., tap and hold gesture 6040 in FIG.6B) and the second input (e.g., tap and hold gesture 6058 in FIG. 6C)are located on the portion of the first activation region that overlapsthe portion of the second activation region (e.g., the shaded portion ofactivation region 6020 and activation region 6026 in FIG. 6C). In otherwords, in some embodiments, the method described herein is used todisambiguate inputs that are detected in overlapping activation regions.

In some embodiments, the third input (e.g., tap and hold gesture 6058 inFIG. 6C) is a repetition of the first input (e.g., tap and hold gesture6040 in FIG. 6B) when one or more of the following is true: (1) thefirst input is received at a first time, the third input is received ata second time and the difference between the first time and the secondtime is less than a predetermined amount of time; (e.g., 0.01 seconds,0.05 seconds, 0.1 seconds, 0.5 seconds, 1 second, 5 seconds or anyreasonable amount of time) the first input and the third input are thesame type of input (e.g., a tap and hold gesture, a tap gesture, a swipegesture, a pinch gesture, a de-pinch gesture, etc.); (2) an initialposition of the third input (e.g., tap and hold gesture 6058 in FIG. 6C)on the display is within a predefined distance (e.g., a radius of 40pixels) of an initial position of the first input (e.g., tap and holdgesture 6040 in FIG. 6B); (3) a final position of the third input (e.g.,as shown in FIG. 6J and described in greater detail below) on thedisplay is within a predefined distance (e.g., a radius of 40 pixels) ofa final position of the first input (e.g., as shown in FIG. 6F anddescribed in greater detail below); and/or (4) the first input and thesecond input include repositioning a respective user interface object,and a final position the respective user interface object after it isrepositioned in accordance with the first input (e.g., as illustrated inFIG. 6F and described in greater detail below) is substantially the sameas a final position of the respective user interface object after it isrepositioned in accordance with the third input (e.g., as illustrated inFIG. 6J and described in greater detail below).

In some embodiments, the device receives a fourth input (e.g., tapgesture 6066 in FIG. 6C). In these embodiments, in response to thefourth input, the device undoes or cancels the second action (e.g.,returns to the state of the user interface illustrated in FIG. 6A). Insome embodiments, the device receives a fifth input (e.g., tap and holdgesture 6068 in FIG. 6D) within a predefined time period that is arepetition of the first input (e.g., tap and hold gesture 6040 in FIG.6B) and the third input (e.g., tap and hold gesture 6058 in FIG. 6C). Insome embodiments, the device determines, based at least in part on thefifth input (e.g., tap and hold gesture 6068 in FIG. 6D), a thirdplurality of candidate actions associated with one or more of theplurality of user interface objects. The third plurality of candidateactions are ordered in accordance with a third ordering that isdifferent from the first ordering and the second ordering. In someembodiments, the third plurality of candidate actions includes onlycandidate actions that are in the first plurality of candidate actionsand the second plurality of candidate actions (e.g., the intersection ofthe first plurality of candidate actions and the second plurality ofcandidate actions). In some embodiments, the third plurality ofcandidate actions includes all candidate actions that are in either thefirst plurality of candidate actions or the second plurality ofcandidate actions (e.g., the union of the first plurality of candidateactions and the second plurality of candidate actions). For example, thethird plurality of candidate actions is, in order (1) select a resizehandle associated with a handle activation region 6038 for the circle,(2) select an object associated with object activation region 6008 forthe square, (3) select a resize handle associated with a handleactivation region 6020 for the square, and (4) select a resize handleassociated with a handle activation region 6026 for the triangle. Athird candidate action in the third plurality of candidate actions(e.g., selecting a resize handle associated with a handle 6076activation region 6038 for the circle) is distinct from the firstcandidate action (e.g., selecting a resize handle associated with ahandle activation region 6020 for the square, as illustrated in FIG. 6B)and the second candidate action (e.g., selecting a resize handleassociated with a handle activation region 6026 for the triangle asillustrated in FIG. 6C) and has a higher position than both the firstcandidate action and the second candidate action in the third ordering,and the device performs (944) the third candidate action.

In some embodiments, the first candidate action is selecting a handleactivation region and the second candidate action is selecting a userinterface object activation region. In these embodiments, the firstinput (e.g., tap and hold gesture 6040 in FIG. 6B) is (930) at aposition on the display that corresponds to a first activation region(e.g., 6020 in FIG. 6B) associated with a resizing handle (e.g., 6052 inFIG. 6B) and is proximate to a second activation region (e.g., 6008 inFIG. 6B) associated with a center portion of a respectiveuser-repositionable user interface object (e.g., 6002 in FIG. 6B). Insome embodiments, the resizing handle and the center portion are for thesame user-repositionable user interface object (e.g., resizing handle6052 and user interface object 6002 in FIG. 6B). In these of theseembodiments, the position of the first input (e.g., tap and hold gesture6040 in FIG. 6B) is closer to the resizing handle than the centerportion and the first candidate action includes selecting the resizinghandle. For example, for the situation illustrated in FIG. 6B, in someembodiments the first plurality of candidate actions includes, in order:(1) select a resize handle associated with a handle activation region6020 for the square, (2) select an object associated with objectactivation region 6008 for the square, (3) select a resize handleassociated with a handle activation region 6038 for the circle, and (4)select resize handle 6060 associated with a handle activation region6026 for the triangle.

In these embodiments, the third input (e.g., a repeat of tap and holdgesture 6040 in FIG. 6B) is at a position on the display thatcorresponds to the first activation region associated with the resizinghandle and is proximate to the second activation region (e.g., 6008 inFIG. 6B) associated with the center portion of the square (e.g., userinterface object 6002 in FIG. 6B). In this example, the second pluralityof candidate actions is similar to the first plurality of candidateactions, only the order has been changed so that the prior firstcandidate action is moved lower in the order. In some embodiments, thefirst candidate action has been removed from the plurality of candidateactions. Thus, in some embodiments, the second plurality of candidateactions is, in order: (1) select an object associated with objectactivation region 6008 for the square, (2) select a resize handleassociated with a handle activation region 6038 for the circle, (3)select resize handle 6060 associated with a handle activation region6026 for the triangle, and (4) select a resize handle associated with ahandle activation region 6020 for the square. In this embodiment, theposition of the third input (e.g., a repeat of tap and hold gesture6040) is still closer to the resizing handle (e.g., 6060 in FIG. 6B)than the object activation region (e.g., 6008 in FIG. 6B) associatedwith the center portion of the square (e.g., user interface object 6002in FIG. 6B), however the second candidate action includes selecting therespective user-repositionable user interface object (e.g., 6002 in FIG.6B) instead of selecting the resizing handle.

In other words, in this embodiment, without taking into accountnon-location factors (e.g., past cancellations of candidate actions), inresponse to the third input, the candidate action of selecting theresizing handle would be higher on the second ordered list than thecandidate action of selecting the center portion (e.g., the entirerespective user-repositionable user interface object). However, thesecond candidate action is selected in response to the third inputbecause of the differences between the first ordering and the secondordering. In some embodiments, the ordering of the second plurality ofcandidate actions is different from the ordering of the first pluralityof candidate actions because of the undoing/cancelling of the firstcandidate action (e.g., the first candidate action is removed fromconsideration when generating the second pluralities of candidateactions or the second candidate action is weighted so that it is lowerin the order than other candidate actions). An advantage of adjustingthe plurality of candidate actions after receiving a second input thatcorresponds to a request to undo a previous candidate action is that itimproves the likelihood that when the device dynamically performs thesecond candidate action that is the candidate action that the userdesires to perform.

While the preceding example has been given with respect to an objectactivation region and a handle activation region for the same userinterface object (e.g., the square 6002), it should be understood thatthe object activation region and the handle activation region are, insome embodiments associated with different user interface objects. Forexample, in one embodiment, the resizing handle is for a firstuser-repositionable user interface object (e.g., the resizing handle6060 associated with handle activation region 6026 for the triangle userinterface object 6005 in FIG. 6C) and the object activation region(e.g., 5008 in FIG. 6C) that is associated with the center portion of auser interface object is for a second user-repositionable user interfaceobject (e.g., square 6002 in FIG. 6C) that is distinct from the firstuser-repositionable user interface object (e.g., 6005 in FIG. 6C).

In some embodiments, the first candidate action is selecting a firsthandle activation region and the second candidate actions is selecting asecond handle activation region. In these embodiments, the first input(e.g., tap and hold gesture 6040 in FIG. 6B) is (932) at a position onthe display that corresponds to a first activation region (e.g., 6020 inFIG. 5B) associated with a first resizing handle (e.g., 6060 in FIG. 5B)and is proximate to a second activation region (e.g., 6026 in FIG. 6B)associated with a second resizing handle; the position of the firstinput is closer to the first resizing handle than the second resizinghandle; the first candidate action includes selecting the first resizinghandle, as described in greater detail above with reference to FIG. 6B.In these embodiments, the third input (e.g., tap and hold gesture 6058in FIG. 6C) is at a position on the display that corresponds to thefirst activation region (e.g., 6020 in FIG. 6C) associated with thefirst resizing handle and is proximate to the second activation region(e.g., 6026 in FIG. 6C) associated with the second resizing handle (e.g.6060 in FIG. 6C). In this embodiment, the position of the third input(e.g., touch and hold gesture 6058 in FIG. 6C) is still closer to thefirst resizing handle than the second resizing handle, however thesecond candidate action includes selecting the second resizing handle(e.g., 6060 in FIG. 6C).

In other words, in these embodiments, without taking into accountnon-location factors (e.g. past cancellations), in response to the thirdinput, the candidate action of selecting the first resizing handle wouldbe higher on the second ordered list than the candidate action ofselecting the second resizing handle. However, the second candidateaction is selected in response to the third input because of thedifferences between the first ordering and the second ordering. In someembodiments, the ordering of the second plurality of candidate actionsis different from the ordering of the first plurality of candidateactions because of the undoing/cancelling of the first candidate action(e.g., the first candidate action is removed from consideration whengenerating the second pluralities of candidate actions or the secondcandidate action is weighted so that it is lower in the order than othercandidate actions). An advantage of adjusting the plurality of candidateactions after receiving a second input that corresponds to a request toundo a previous candidate action is that this adjustment improves thelikelihood that when the device dynamically performs the secondcandidate action it is the candidate action that the userdesires/intended to perform.

In some embodiments, the first candidate action is snapping the userinterface object to a first guide and the second candidate action issnapping the user interface object to a second guide. In theseembodiments, the first input (e.g., a contact at a contact location6078-1 associated with an object activation region 6008 for a respectiveuser interface object 6002 and subsequent movement 6080 as illustratedin FIG. 6E of the contact across the touch screen display to new contactlocation 6078-2 in FIG. 6F) corresponds (934) to a command to move arespective one of the plurality of user interface objects (e.g., 6002 inFIG. 6E) to a respective position (e.g., 6002 in FIG. 6F) on the displaythat is proximate to a first guide (e.g., 6082 in FIG. 6F) and a secondguide (e.g., 6084 in FIG. 6F). In some embodiments, the respectiveposition is also proximate to a third guide (e.g., 6086 in FIG. 6F) asdiscussed in greater detail below. As discussed in greater detail above,the device determines a first plurality of candidate action and a firstorder for the first plurality of candidate actions. For example, thefirst plurality of candidate actions includes, in order: (1) snap theuser interface object 6002 to the first guide 6082, (2) snap the userinterface object 6002 to the second guide 6084, and (3) snap the userinterface object 6002 to the third guide 6086. In these embodiments,after being moved in accordance with the first input, the respectiveposition of the user interface object (e.g., 6002 in FIG. 6F) is closerto the first guide 6082 than the second guide 6084, and the firstcandidate action includes snapping the user interface object to thefirst guide (e.g., the candidate action of the first plurality ofcandidate actions that is highest in the first order).

In some embodiments, after determining the first plurality of candidateactions and a first order for the first plurality of candidate actions,the device performs the top candidate action in the first order (e.g.,by snapping the user interface object 6002 to the first guide 6082). Forexample, as illustrated in FIGS. 6G and 6F, after the first input ends(e.g., after the device ceases to detect contact 6078, as illustrated inFIG. 6G), the device automatically, without user intervention, moves6088 the user interface object 6002 to the left so as to align one edgeof the user interface object 6002 with the first guide 6082 (e.g., inFIG. 6G, the user interface object 6002 is not aligned with the firstguide 6082, whereas in FIG. 6H, the user interface object 6002 has beenaligned with the first guide 6082 by the device).

In some embodiments, the device detects a second input that correspondsto a request to undo the first candidate action (e.g., control+z orcommand+z), as discussed in greater detail above. The device undoes thefirst candidate action, and in some embodiments undoes any other actionperformed in response to the first input. In the present example, afterreceiving the second input, undoing other actions includes the devicereturning the user interface object 6002 to its initial location, asillustrated in FIG. 6I.

The device detects a third input (e.g., a contact 6090 at a contactlocation 6090-1 associated with an object activation region 6008 for therespective user interface object 6002 and subsequent movement 6092 inFIG. 6I of the contact 6090 across the touch screen display to newcontact location 6090-2 in FIG. 6J) that is a repetition of the firstinput. The criteria for determining whether one input is a repetition ofanother input are discussed in greater detail above. In theseembodiments, the third input corresponds to a command to move therespective user interface object (e.g., 6002 in FIG. 6I) to the samerespective position on the display (e.g., the square user interfaceobject 6002 in FIG. 6J is in the same position as the square userinterface object 6002 in FIG. 6F). As discussed in greater detail above,the device determines a second plurality of candidate actions and asecond order for the second plurality of candidate actions. For example,the second plurality of candidate actions includes, in order: (1) snapthe user interface object 6002 to the second guide 6084, (2) snap theuser interface object 6002 to the third guide 6086, and (3) snap theuser interface object 6002 to the first guide 6082.

In these embodiments, after being moved in accordance with the firstinput, the respective position of the user interface object (e.g., 6002in FIG. 6J) is still closer to the first guide 6082 than the secondguide 6084, but the second candidate action of snapping the userinterface object to the second guide is now first in the second orderfor the second plurality of candidate actions.

In other words, in these embodiments, without taking into accountnon-location factors (e.g., past cancellations), in response to thethird input, the candidate action of snapping the user interface objectto the first guide would be higher on the second ordered list than thecandidate action of snapping the user interface object to the secondguide. However, the second candidate action of snapping the userinterface object to the second guide is selected in response to thethird input because of the differences between the first ordering andthe second ordering. In some embodiments, the ordering of the secondplurality of candidate actions is different from the ordering of thefirst plurality of candidate actions because of the undoing/cancellingof the first candidate action (e.g., the first candidate action isremoved from consideration when generating the second pluralities ofcandidate actions or the second candidate action is weighted so that itis lower in the order than other candidate actions). An advantage ofadjusting the plurality of candidate actions after receiving a secondinput that corresponds to a request to undo a previous candidate actionis that it improves the likelihood that when the device dynamicallyperforms the second candidate action that it is the candidate actionthat the user desires/intended to perform.

In these embodiments, after determining the first plurality of candidateactions and a first order for the first plurality of candidate actions,the device performs the second candidate action (e.g., by snapping theuser interface object 6002 to the second guide 6084, as illustrated inFIGS. 6K and 6L). For example, in FIGS. 6K and 6L, after the secondinput ends (e.g., after the device ceases to detect contact 6090, asillustrated in FIG. 6K), the device automatically, without userintervention, moves 6094 the user interface object 6002 to the right soas to align one edge of the user interface object 6002 with the secondguide 6084 (e.g., in FIG. 6K, the user interface object 6002 is notaligned with the second guide 6084, whereas in FIG. 6L, the userinterface object 6002 has been aligned with the second guide 6084 by thedevice).

In some embodiments, the device receives (936) a fourth input thatcorresponds to a request to undo the first candidate action (e.g.,control+z or command+z), as described in greater detail above. In theseembodiments, in response to the fourth input, the device undoes (938) orcancels the second action. In some embodiments, in response to thefourth input the device also undoes any other movement of the userinterface object 6002 in accordance with the third input (e.g., byreturning the user interface object 6002 to its initial location asillustrated in FIG. 6M).

In some embodiments, the device receives (940) a fifth input (e.g., acontact 6096 at a contact location 6096-1 associated with an objectactivation region 6008 for the respective user interface object 6002 andsubsequent movement 6098 in FIG. 6M of the contact 6096 across the touchscreen display to new contact location 6096-2 as illustrated in FIG. 6N)that is a repetition of the first input (e.g., contact 6078 andsubsequent movement 6080 as illustrated in FIG. 6E) and the third input(e.g., contact 6090 and subsequent movement 6092 as illustrated in FIG.6I). In some embodiments, the fifth input must be received within apredefined time period of the third input to be considered a repetitionof the third input. Other criteria for determining if an input is arepetition of a previous input are discussed in greater detail above.

In some embodiments, the device determines, (942) based at least in parton the fifth input, a third plurality of candidate actions associatedwith one or more of the plurality of user interface objects. The thirdplurality of candidate actions are ordered in accordance with a thirdordering that is different from the first ordering and the secondordering. A third candidate action in the third plurality of candidateactions is distinct from the first candidate action and the secondcandidate action and has a higher position than both the first candidateaction and the second candidate action in the third ordering. Forexample, in some embodiments the second plurality of candidate actionsincludes, in order: (1) snap the user interface object 6002 to the thirdguide 6086, (2) snap the user interface object 6002 to the first guide6082, and (3) snap the user interface object 6002 to the second guide6084.

In these embodiments, the device performs (944) the third candidateaction (e.g., by snapping the user interface object 6002 to the thirdguide 6086, as illustrated in FIGS. 6O and 6P). For example, in FIGS. 6Oand 6P, after the second input ends (e.g., after the device ceases todetect contact 6096, as illustrated in FIG. 6O), the deviceautomatically, without user intervention, moves 6100 the user interfaceobject 6002 upwards so as to align one edge of the user interface object6002 with the third guide 6086 (e.g., in FIG. 6O, the user interfaceobject 6002 is not aligned with the third guide 6086, whereas in FIG.6P, the user interface object 6002 has been aligned with the third guide6086 by the device).

It should be understood that if the first candidate action and/or thesecond candidate action are removed from the third plurality ofcandidate actions, the first candidate action and/or second candidateaction are effectively assigned the lowest position in the thirdplurality of candidate actions. Additionally, in some embodiments, theremay be more than three candidate actions and more than three inputs(e.g., a sixth input, a seventh input, a eighth input, etc.) aredetected and the ordering of a plurality of candidate actions isdetermined with each subsequent input. In other words, even if the exactsame input is detected two, three, four or more times in a row, thedevice may perform a different action each time the input is received,depending on the ordering of the candidate actions. It should also beunderstood that, in some embodiments, one or more previously performedcandidate actions are repeated after other candidate actions have beenperformed and undone in response to other user inputs.

FIG. 10 is a flow diagram illustrating a method 1000 of selecting analternative candidate action to perform in accordance with someembodiments. The method 1000 is performed at a computing device (e.g.,device 300, FIG. 3, or portable multifunction device 100, FIG. 1) with adisplay and a touch-sensitive surface. In some embodiments, the displayis a touch screen display and the touch-sensitive surface is on thedisplay. In some embodiments, the display is separate from thetouch-sensitive surface. Some operations in method 1000 may be combinedand/or the order of some operations may be changed.

As described below, the method 1000 provides an intuitive way to selecta candidate action to perform based on previously canceled candidateactions. The method reduces the cognitive burden on a user bydynamically selecting a likely candidate action based on candidateactions that have been cancelled in the past, thereby creating a moreefficient human-machine interface. For battery-operated computingdevices, enabling a user to perform the desired candidate action fasterand more efficiently conserves power and increases the time betweenbattery charges.

The device simultaneously displays (1002) a plurality ofuser-repositionable user interface objects (e.g., 6002, 6005 and 6006 inFIG. 6A). Each user interface object includes one or more activationregions (e.g., object activation region 6008 and handle activationregions 6010, 6012, 6014, 6016, 6018, 6020, 6022, 6024, 6026, 6028,6030, 6032, 6034, 6036 and 6038 in FIG. 6A). In some embodiments, a userinterface object is user-repositionable if it is moveable in to anarbitrary position on the display, relative to other displayed objects,in response to user inputs. For example, if a user selects arepositionable user interface object 6002 and drags it in a respectivedirection (e.g., as illustrated in FIGS. 6E-6F), the repositionable userinterface object 6002 moves in the respective direction. Conversely, thekeys on a soft keyboard are not user-repositionable user interfaceobjects, even if the keyboard layout changes from a first predefinedlayout (e.g., QWERTY) to a second predefined layout (e.g., DVORAK) inresponse to a user input. In some embodiments, the objects arenon-overlapping, or at least the portion of the user interface objectsproximate to the first input is non-overlapping.

The device receives (1004) a first input (e.g., tap and hold gesture6040 in FIG. 6B) from the user at a position on the touch screen thatcorresponds to at least one of the activation regions (e.g., 6020 inFIG. 6B). Based at least in part on the first input (e.g., tap and holdgesture 6040 in FIG. 6B), the device determines (1006) a first pluralityof candidate actions. Each candidate action in the first plurality ofcandidate actions is associated with one of the user interface objectsand the candidate actions are ordered in accordance with a firstordering. As one example, the first plurality of candidate actionsincludes, in order (1) select a resize handle associated with a handleactivation region 6020 for the square, (2) select a resize handleassociated with a handle activation region 6026 for the triangle, (3)select an object associated with object activation region 6008 for thesquare, and (4) select a resize handle associated with a handleactivation region 6038 for the circle.

The device performs (1008) a first candidate action (e.g., selecting aresize handle 6052 associated with a handle activation region 6020 forthe square) of the first plurality of candidate actions as determined inaccordance with the first ordering. In some embodiments, the inputincludes a position on the display (e.g., the centroid of a tap and holdgesture 6040 on a touch screen display 112), and the ordering of thecandidate actions is based on the distance of one or more predefinedportions of the user interface objects from the position of the input(e.g., the handle activation region 6020 for the square is closest tothe centroid of the tap and hold gesture 6040, while the handleactivation region 6026 for the triangle is second closest to thecentroid of the tap and hold gesture 6040, the object activation region6008 for the square is third closest to the centroid of the tap and holdgesture 6040, and the handle activation region 6038 is fourth closest tothe centroid of the tap and hold gesture 6040 in FIG. 6B). In someembodiments, the ordering includes a weight that is based on propertiesof the input other than the position of the input (e.g., the layer ofeach of the user interface objects associated with the candidateactions, whether the user interface object associated with a candidateaction is currently selected, whether the user interface objectassociated with a candidate action has recently been used, a number ofsides for a shape of the user interface object associated with acandidate action, a transparency value of the user interface objectassociated with a candidate action, and/or whether the candidate actionwas previously selected by the user, etc.)

After performing the first candidate action, the device receives (1010)a second input (e.g., tap and hold gesture 6058 in FIG. 6C) that is arepetition of the first input. In some embodiments, the second inputmust be received within a predefined time period (e.g., 10 seconds orless) in order to be considered a repetition of the first input,criteria for determining whether a second input is a repetition of afirst input are discussed in greater detail above with reference toFIGS. 9A-9D. In some embodiments, instead of receiving the third inputwithin a predefined period of time, the device receives the third inputbefore some other predefined event has occurred (e.g., before thecurrent selection changes, or before a currently displayed subset ofcontent is replaced with a different displayed subset of content eitherby scrolling through the displayed content or navigating to a differentsubset of content such as a next page or a next slide). In accordancewith some embodiments, a third input is substantially the same as thefirst input if the same user interface object has been moved by thefirst input and the third input or if the same third input is located atapproximately the same location as the first input. In response (1012)to the second input, the device undoes (1014) or cancels the firstcandidate action (e.g., the device deselects the resize handle 6052 ofthe square user interface object 5002, as illustrated in FIG. 6C, whereresize handle 6052 is not selected and is also not displayed). Thedevice determines (1016), based at least in part on the second input(e.g., tap and hold gesture 6058 in FIG. 6C), a second plurality ofcandidate actions associated with one or more of the plurality of userinterface objects. The second plurality of candidate actions are orderedin accordance with a second ordering that is different from the firstordering. Additionally, a second candidate action in the secondplurality of candidate actions is distinct from the first candidateaction and has a higher position than the first candidate action in thesecond ordering. As one example, for the situation shown in FIG. 6C, thesecond plurality of candidate actions includes, in order: (1) select aresize handle associated with a handle activation region 6026 for thetriangle, (2) select an object associated with object activation region6008 for the square, (3) select a resize handle associated with a handleactivation region 6038 for the circle, and (4) select a resize handleassociated with a handle activation region 6020 for the square. Itshould be understood that if the first action is removed from the secondplurality of candidate actions, the first candidate action effectivelyis assigned the lowest position in the second plurality of candidateactions. In other words, in some embodiments, even if the exact sameaction is detected twice in a row, the device will perform a differentaction.

The device performs (1018) the second candidate action (e.g., selectinga resize handle 6060 associated with a handle activation region 6026 forthe triangle user interface object 6005 in FIG. 6C).

Note that details of the processes described above with respect tomethod 900 (e.g., FIGS. 9A-9D, and 6A-6P) are also applicable in ananalogous manner to the method 1000. For example, the first candidateaction and the second candidate action described with reference to FIG.10 may have one or more of the characteristics of the various candidateactions described above with reference to method 900. Additionally, asdescribed above in greater detail with reference to method 900, itshould be understood that, in some embodiments, there may be more thantwo candidate actions and more than two inputs and a plurality ofcandidate actions (and an associated ordering) is determined for eachsubsequent input, the primary difference being that no explicitcancellation/undo input is received by the device. For brevity, thesedetails are not repeated here.

FIGS. 11A-11C are flow diagrams illustrating a method 1100 ofautomatically zooming a display area to finely manipulate a userinterface object in accordance with some embodiments. The method 1100 isperformed at a computing device (e.g., device 300, FIG. 3, or portablemultifunction device 100, FIG. 1) with a display and a touch-sensitivesurface. In some embodiments, the display is a touch screen display andthe touch-sensitive surface is on the display. In some embodiments, thedisplay is separate from the touch-sensitive surface. Some operations inmethod 1100 may be combined and/or the order of some operations may bechanged.

As described below, the method 1100 provides an intuitive way toautomatically zoom a display area to finely manipulate a user interfaceobject. The method reduces the cognitive burden on a user when zooming adisplay area to finely manipulate a user interface object, therebycreating a more efficient human-machine interface. For battery-operatedcomputing devices, enabling a user to zoom a display area to finelymanipulate a user interface object faster and more efficiently conservespower and increases the time between battery charges.

The device simultaneously displays (1102) on the touch screen display: aplurality of user interface objects (1104) (e.g., 7002, 7005, and 7006in FIGS. 7A-7G) displayed at a first magnification (e.g., 100%) level ina display area (e.g., 7007 in FIGS. 7A-7G) on the display (e.g., 112 inFIGS. 7A-7G). In some embodiments the display area 7007 is a workspaceof a current application that is distinct from a command or informationregion of the touch screen display. In some embodiments, a zoomindicator (e.g., 7008-a) is displayed in a command or information regionof the touch screen display, and the zoom indicator indicates thecurrent magnification level of the display area on the display (e.g., inFIGS. 7A-7B, the current magnification level of the display area is100%). In some embodiments, in response to an input by the user (e.g., afinger tap gesture 7009 by a user on a location on the touch screendisplay that corresponds to the object 7005-a in FIG. 7A), the deviceselects the user interface object (e.g., 7005-a in FIG. 7B).

The device simultaneously displays the user interface objects (e.g.,7002, 7006 and 7005 in FIG. 7B) including the currently selected userinterface object (1106) (e.g., 7005-a in FIG. 7B), which is displayedsimultaneously with a plurality of handles (1108) (e.g., 7010, 7012 and7014 in FIG. 7B-7G) for the currently selected user interface object(e.g., 7005-a in FIG. 7B). Each handle has a corresponding handleactivation region (e.g., handle 7010 has activation region 7016, handle7012 has activation region 7018, and handle 7014 has activation region7020 in FIGS. 7B-7C and 7E-7G, while handle 7010 has activation region7016, and handle 7014 has activation region 7020 in FIG. 7D). It shouldbe understood that these activation regions may have some or all of theproperties of the handle activation regions discussed in greater detailabove with reference to FIGS. 5A-5J and 6A-6P.

The device detects (1110) a first contact (e.g., contact 7022 at a firstcontact location 7022-1 in FIG. 7B) at or in a first location on thetouch screen display that corresponds to a first handle activationregion (e.g., 7016 in FIG. 7B) for a first handle (e.g., 7010 in FIG.7B) in the plurality of handles (e.g., this contact is a finger contacton a handle activation region that corresponds to a resizing handle ofthe currently selected user interface object on the touch screendisplay). In some embodiments, the first contact is (1112) a fingercontact. In some embodiments, the first contact is (1114) a styluscontact. It should be understood that, in some embodiments, the abovemethod is performed using an alternative user input device, such as amouse or touch pad. For example, instead of a first contact, the devicedetects a mouse-down event while a cursor is over the first handleactivation region; instead of detecting movement of the second contact,the device detects movement of the cursor from the first location to asecond location; and instead of detecting liftoff the contact, thedevice detects a mouse-up event (e.g., release of the mouse button).

The device continues (1116) to detect the first contact at the firstlocation for a predefined amount of time (e.g., 0.1, 0.5, 1, or 2seconds). In some embodiments, the first contact is substantiallystationary (e.g., detected movement of the first input is less than apredefined amount). In response to continuing to detect the firstcontact at the first location for the predefined amount of time, thedevice zooms (1118) the display area to a second magnification level(e.g., 200%). The second magnification level is greater than the firstmagnification level. In some embodiments, the magnification level of thecommand or information area is not zoomed in. In some embodiments, thezoom indicator (e.g., 7008-b) is displayed, and the zoom indicatorindicates the current magnification level of the display area on thedisplay (e.g., in FIGS. 7C-7D, the current magnification level of thedisplay area is 200%). In some embodiments, zooming the display areafrom the first magnification level to the second magnification levelcomprises (1120) zooming in around the first handle (e.g., in FIG. 7C,the first handle 7010 is in the same location in the display area thatthe first handle 7010 was located in previously in FIG. 7B).

In some embodiments, operations 1124-1136 are performed while thedisplay area is (1122) at the second magnification level (e.g., 200%).The device detects (1124) a movement of the first contact across thetouch screen display (e.g., movement 7024 of the contact 7022 from afirst contact location 7022-1 in FIG. 7C to a second contact location7022-2 in FIG. 7D). It should be understood that movement of the contactwhile the display area is at the second, higher magnification level(“zoomed in”) allows the user to have finer control over the movement ofthe first resizing handle. Thus, “zooming in” results in greateraccuracy (e.g., “subpixel accuracy”) for resizing and otherwisemanipulating the user interface object 7005. Moreover, because thedevice “zooms in” automatically, the user is not required to perform adiscrete command to change the magnification level after selecting thehandle, and consequently can modify the user interface object morequickly and efficiently.

The device moves (1126) the first handle (e.g., 7010 in FIG. 7D) to asecond location in the display area in accordance with the detectedmovement of the first contact (e.g., 7022 in FIGS. 7C-7D). In someembodiments, moving the first handle to the second location in thedisplay area resizes (1128) the currently selected user interface object(e.g., 7005 in FIGS. 7C-7D). In some embodiments, the user interfaceobject is resized without changing the shape of the user interfaceobject. In some embodiments, moving the first handle to the secondlocation in the display area changes (1130) the shape of the currentlyselected user interface object. As one example, the first handle is ahandle for moving a single side of the currently selected user interfaceobject. Alternatively, the first handle is a handle for changing thecurvature of a perimeter of the currently selected user interfaceobject. As another example, in FIG. 7C, before the movement is detected,the user interface object (e.g., 7005-a in FIG. 7D), has a first shape(e.g., the user interface object is a triangle with a base of a firstlength) while in FIG. 7D, after the movement is detected, the userinterface object (e.g., 7005-b in FIG. 7D) has a second shape (e.g., theuser interface object is a triangle with a base of a second length thatis different from the first length). In some embodiments, moving thefirst handle to the second location in the display area repositions(1132) the currently selected user interface object (e.g., the firsthandle is a handle for translating the entire object). In someembodiments, moving the first handle to the second location in thedisplay area rotates (1134) the currently selected user interface object(e.g., the first handle is an object rotation handle).

The device detects (1136) liftoff of the first contact (e.g., in FIG.7E, after detecting the movement of the contact to contact location7022-2, the device detects a liftoff of contact 7022 and transitions tothe user interface displayed in FIG. 7E). In response to detectingliftoff of the first contact (e.g., automatically, without otherintervening user inputs), the device zooms (1138) the display area tothe first magnification level (e.g., the display area is “zoomed out” tothe previous zoom level 100%, as illustrated in FIG. 7E). In someembodiments, the zoom indicator (e.g., 7008-a) is displayed, and thezoom indicator indicates the current magnification level of the displayarea on the display (e.g., in FIGS. 7E-7G, the current magnificationlevel of the display area is 100%).

It should be understood that this process provides faster, moreefficient, and more precise manipulation of a handle (e.g., resizehandle 7010) for a user interface object (e.g., 7005 in FIGS. 7A-7E). Toprovide finer control, the display area is automatically “zoomed in”(e.g., when a user contact is paused over a resizing handle) and whenthe user is done with the finer control (e.g., when the user lifts upthe contact) the display area is automatically “zoomed out” to theprevious magnification level. This process is advantageous, because itreplaces multiple discrete user gestures (e.g., discrete gestures to“select,” “zoom-in,” “move,” and “zoom-out”) with a gesture input thatuses a single continuous contact with the touch screen display tosmoothly and intuitively provide inputs instructing the device toperform these operations.

In some embodiments, operations 1142-1146 are performed while (1140) thedisplay area is at the first magnification level (e.g., 100%). In someembodiments, the device detects (1142) a second contact (e.g., 7026 inFIG. 7F) at a second location (e.g., 7026-1 in FIG. 7F) on the touchscreen display that corresponds to the first handle activation region(e.g., 7016 in FIG. 7F) for the first handle (e.g., 7010 in FIG. 7F) inthe plurality of handles (e.g., 7010, 7012, and 7016 in FIG. 7F). Insome embodiments, the second contact (e.g., 7026 in FIG. 7F) is detectedbefore the first contact (e.g., 7022 in FIG. 7B). In some embodiments,the second contact (e.g., 7026 in FIG. 7F) is detected after the gesturemade with the first contact (e.g., 7022 in FIGS. 7B-7D). In other words,the user interface object can be modified with the automatic zooming ormodified without the automatic zooming in any order.

In some embodiments, the device detects (1144) movement of the secondcontact across the touch screen display before the predefined amount oftime has elapsed (e.g., movement 7028 of the contact 7026 from a firstcontact location 7026-1 in FIG. 7F to a second contact location 7026-2in FIG. 7G). In some embodiments, the second contact (e.g., 7026 inFIGS. 7F-7G) moves more than a predefined amount from the secondlocation (e.g., initial position of the second contact 7026-1 in FIG.7F). In some embodiments, the device moves (1146) the first handle(e.g., 7010 in FIG. 7F) to a third location (e.g., 7010 in FIG. 7G) inthe display area (e.g., 7007 in FIG. 7F) in accordance with the detectedmovement of the second contact (e.g., the movement 7028 of contact 7026to contact location 7026-2 in FIG. 7G). In other words, when the contactmoves more than a predefined amount (e.g., distance) within thepredefined amount of time, there is no zooming in. The initial movementindicates that the user is not trying to precisely position the firsthandle. An advantage of not automatically zooming the display area whenthe user starts moving the contact within a predetermined period of timeis that if the user starts moving the contact with the predeterminedperiod of time, it is likely that the user does not need fine control ofthe modification of the user interface object, and increasing themagnification level is likely to be confusing to the user and possiblyhide the position on the display to which the user would like to movethe contact. Thus, not automatically zooming the display area when theuser starts moving the contact within a predetermined period of timeincreases the efficiency of manipulation of user interface objects bythe user.

The steps in the information processing methods described above may beimplemented by running one or more functional modules in an informationprocessing apparatus such as general purpose processors or applicationspecific chips. These modules, combinations of these modules, and/ortheir combination with general hardware (e.g., as described above withrespect to FIGS. 1A, 1B and 3) are all included within the scope ofprotection of the invention.

The foregoing description, for purpose of explanation, has beendescribed with reference to specific embodiments. However, theillustrative discussions above are not intended to be exhaustive or tolimit the invention to the precise forms disclosed. Many modificationsand variations are possible in view of the above teachings. Theembodiments were chosen and described in order to best explain theprinciples of the invention and its practical applications, to therebyenable others skilled in the art to best utilize the invention andvarious embodiments with various modifications as are suited to theparticular use contemplated.

What is claimed is:
 1. A method, comprising: at a computing device witha display: simultaneously displaying on the display: a plurality of userinterface objects, wherein at least some of the user interface objectsare configured to be resizable; a currently selected user interfaceobject; and a plurality of resizing handles for the currently selecteduser interface object, wherein each respective resizing handle has acorresponding handle activation region with a default position relativeto the respective resizing handle, a default size distinct from adisplayed size of the respective resizing handle, and a default shape;detecting a first input on a first handle activation region for a firstresizing handle in the plurality of resizing handles; in response todetecting the first input: resizing the currently selected userinterface object; and for at least one resizing handle in the pluralityof resizing handles, modifying a corresponding handle activation regionby changing the position of the handle activation region relative to theresizing handle from the default position to a modified position andchanging the size of the handle activation region from the default sizeto a modified size.
 2. The method of claim 1, wherein the display is atouch screen display and the first input is a gesture on the touchscreen display.
 3. The method of claim 1, further comprising: inresponse to detecting the first input: for at least one resizing handlein the plurality of resizing handles, modifying a corresponding handleactivation region by: changing the shape of the handle activation regionfrom the default shape to a modified shape.
 4. The method of claim 1,wherein: the default size is a predefined size; and the modified size isdetermined such that when the corresponding handle activation region ismodified, the corresponding handle activation region includes at leastsome of the corresponding resizing handle without overlapping with anyof the other handle activation regions.
 5. The method of claim 1,wherein the modified size is at least a minimum predefined size.
 6. Themethod of claim 1, wherein the corresponding handle activation regionhas an inner boundary that is proximate to the center of the currentlyselected user interface object and an outer boundary that is remote fromthe center of the currently selected user interface object, and: for thedefault shape, the inner boundary is equal in length to the outerboundary; and for the modified shape, the inner boundary is shorter thanthe outer boundary.
 7. The method of claim 3, wherein the default shapeof the corresponding handle activation region is rectangular and themodified shape of the corresponding handle activation region is atruncated pie wedge.
 8. The method of claim 1, wherein the currentlyselected user interface object has a center, and modifying acorresponding handle activation region by changing the position of thehandle activation region relative to the resizing handle from thedefault position to a modified position comprises: when the currentlyselected object is resized to a smaller size, moving the position of thehandle activation region towards the center of the currently selecteduser interface object by an amount that is less than movement of theposition of the corresponding resizing handle towards the center of thecurrently selected user interface object.
 9. The method of claim 1,wherein the currently selected user interface object includes an objectactivation region that includes the center of the currently selecteduser interface object.
 10. The method of claim 9, wherein the objectactivation region is entirely within a perimeter of the currentlyselected user interface object.
 11. The method of claim 1, wherein eachof the handle activation regions is partially outside a perimeter of thecurrently selected user interface object and partially inside theperimeter of the currently selected user interface object, but coversonly a subregion of the interior of the currently selected userinterface object.
 12. The method of claim 1, wherein a perimeter of thecurrently selected user interface object intersects with a perimeter ofeach respective handle activation regions at exactly two points.
 13. Themethod of claim 1, wherein, prior to resizing the currently selecteduser interface object: the currently selected user interface objectincludes an object activation region with a centroid that is located ina predefined location relative to the center of the currently selecteduser interface object; and a centroid of a respective default handleactivation region is located at the center of a corresponding resizinghandle; and after resizing the currently selected user interface object:the centroid of the object activation region is maintained at thepredefined location relative to the center of the currently selecteduser interface object; and the centroid of the respective default handleactivation region is located away from the center of the correspondingresizing handle.
 14. The method of claim 1, wherein, in response todetecting the first input, multiple handle activation regions thatcorrespond to multiple resizing handles in the plurality of resizinghandles are modified by changing the position of a respective handleactivation region relative to a respective resizing handle from arespective default position to a respective modified position.
 15. Themethod of claim 1, wherein, in response to detecting the first input,each and every handle activation region that corresponds to a resizinghandle in the plurality of resizing handles is modified by changing theposition of a respective handle activation region relative to arespective resizing handle from a respective default position to arespective modified position.
 16. A graphical user interface on acomputing device with a display, the graphical user interfacecomprising: a plurality of user interface objects, wherein at least someof the user interface objects are configured to be resizable; acurrently selected user interface object; and a plurality of resizinghandles for the currently selected user interface object, wherein eachrespective resizing handle has a corresponding handle activation regionwith a default position relative to the respective resizing handle, adefault size distinct from a displayed size of the respective resizinghandle, and a default shape; a first input is detected on a first handleactivation region for a first resizing handle in the plurality ofresizing handles; in response to detecting the first input: thecurrently selected user interface object is resized; and for at leastone resizing handle in the plurality of resizing handles, acorresponding handle activation region is modified by changing theposition of the handle activation region relative to the resizing handlefrom the default position to a modified position and changing the sizeof the handle activation region from the default size to a modifiedsize.
 17. A computing device, comprising: a display; one or moreprocessors; memory; and one or more programs, wherein the one or moreprograms are stored in the memory and configured to be executed by theone or more processors, the one or more programs including instructionsfor: simultaneously displaying on the display: a plurality of userinterface objects, wherein at least some of the user interface objectsare configured to be resizable; a currently selected user interfaceobject; and a plurality of resizing handles for the currently selecteduser interface object, wherein each respective resizing handle has acorresponding handle activation region with a default position relativeto the respective resizing handle, a default size distinct from adisplayed size of the respective resizing handle, and a default shape;detecting a first input on a first handle activation region for a firstresizing handle in the plurality of resizing handles; and in response todetecting the first input: resizing the currently selected userinterface object; and for at least one resizing handle in the pluralityof resizing handles, modifying a corresponding handle activation regionby changing the position of the handle activation region relative to theresizing handle from the default position to a modified position andchanging the size of the handle activation region from the default sizeto a modified size.
 18. A non-transitory computer readable storagemedium storing one or more programs, the one or more programs comprisinginstructions, which when executed by a computing device with a display,cause the device to: simultaneously display on the display: a pluralityof user interface objects, wherein at least some of the user interfaceobjects are configured to be resizable; a currently selected userinterface object; and a plurality of resizing handles for the currentlyselected user interface object, wherein each respective resizing handlehas a corresponding handle activation region with a default positionrelative to the respective resizing handle, a default size distinct froma displayed size of the respective resizing handle, and a default shape;detect a first input on a first handle activation region for a firstresizing handle in the plurality of resizing handles; and in response todetecting the first input: resize the currently selected user interfaceobject; and for at least one resizing handle in the plurality ofresizing handles, modify a corresponding handle activation region bychanging the position of the handle activation region relative to theresizing handle from the default position to a modified position andchanging the size of the handle activation region from the default sizeto a modified size.
 19. A method, comprising: at a computing device witha display: simultaneously displaying on the display: a plurality of userinterface objects, wherein at least some of the user interface objectsare configured to be resizable; a currently selected user interfaceobject; and a plurality of resizing handles for the currently selecteduser interface object, wherein each respective resizing handle has acorresponding handle activation region with a default position relativeto the respective resizing handle, a default size distinct from adisplayed size of the respective resizing handle, and a default shape;detecting a first input on a first handle activation region for a firstresizing handle in the plurality of resizing handles; in response todetecting the first input: resizing the currently selected userinterface object; and for at least one resizing handle in the pluralityof resizing handles, modifying a corresponding handle activation regionby changing the position of the handle activation region relative to theresizing handle from the default position to a modified position andchanging the shape of the handle activation region from the defaultshape to a modified shape.
 20. A graphical user interface on a computingdevice with a display, the graphical user interface comprising: aplurality of user interface objects, wherein at least some of the userinterface objects are configured to be resizable; a currently selecteduser interface object; and a plurality of resizing handles for thecurrently selected user interface object, wherein each respectiveresizing handle has a corresponding handle activation region with adefault position relative to the respective resizing handle, a defaultsize distinct from a displayed size of the respective resizing handle,and a default shape; a first input is detected on a first handleactivation region for a first resizing handle in the plurality ofresizing handles; in response to detecting the first input: thecurrently selected user interface object is resized; and for at leastone resizing handle in the plurality of resizing handles, acorresponding handle activation region is modified by changing theposition of the handle activation region relative to the resizing handlefrom the default position to a modified position and changing the shapeof the handle activation region from the default shape to a modifiedshape.
 21. A computing device, comprising: a display; one or moreprocessors; memory; and one or more programs, wherein the one or moreprograms are stored in the memory and configured to be executed by theone or more processors, the one or more programs including instructionsfor: simultaneously displaying on the display: a plurality of userinterface objects, wherein at least some of the user interface objectsare configured to be resizable; a currently selected user interfaceobject; and a plurality of resizing handles for the currently selecteduser interface object, wherein each respective resizing handle has acorresponding handle activation region with a default position relativeto the respective resizing handle, a default size distinct from adisplayed size of the respective resizing handle, and a default shape;detecting a first input on a first handle activation region for a firstresizing handle in the plurality of resizing handles; and in response todetecting the first input: resizing the currently selected userinterface object; and for at least one resizing handle in the pluralityof resizing handles, modifying a corresponding handle activation regionby changing the position of the handle activation region relative to theresizing handle from the default position to a modified position andchanging the shape of the handle activation region from the defaultshape to a modified shape.
 22. A non-transitory computer readablestorage medium storing one or more programs, the one or more programscomprising instructions, which when executed by a computing device witha display, cause the device to: simultaneously display on the display: aplurality of user interface objects, wherein at least some of the userinterface objects are configured to be resizable; a currently selecteduser interface object; and a plurality of resizing handles for thecurrently selected user interface object, wherein each respectiveresizing handle has a corresponding handle activation region with adefault position relative to the respective resizing handle, a defaultsize distinct from a displayed size of the respective resizing handle,and a default shape; detect a first input on a first handle activationregion for a first resizing handle in the plurality of resizing handles;and in response to detecting the first input: resize the currentlyselected user interface object; and for at least one resizing handle inthe plurality of resizing handles, modify a corresponding handleactivation region by changing the position of the handle activationregion relative to the resizing handle from the default position to amodified position and changing the shape of the handle activation regionfrom the default shape to a modified shape.